(361/366) Escalator Etiquette

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December 26, 2012 – Boxing Day and we ventured downtown. It’s not something we normally do. I don’t generally enjoy the chaos of the malls at the best of times, let alone the busiest day of the year.

But when you aren’t really looking for anything but a new pair of oven mitts, you can relax and enjoy the freneticism that others are displaying. Particularly in places like Holt Renfrew where normally astronomical prices brought down to just moderately astronomical ones bring shoppers out in droves.

As we were navigating escalators round the mall, we noticed that most people were actually very polite today, particularly on narrow escalators. The only constant failure seems to be those shoppers that get to the top of the escalator and stop, thinking for a moment on which way they want to go. It reminds me of those that exit lifts at ski hills and just stop. Considering the fact that they just got off a people moving machine, I’m never quite sure why they forget that there could be others coming up behind them, about to be deposited on their heels, with no option but to run directly into them.

I’m not sure what’s usually worse, the parking, or the actual shopping in the overcrowded malls. But Kirk solved the first one with a parking lot that is entered a few blocks up from Pacific Centre Mall but pops you out just across the street…and is only $4.50 for the day, and the lot is virtually empty because no one seems to know about it. I love a good secret parking lot!

As for the second problem, the hordes of shoppers and long lineups? I browse and mostly don’t buy. I can’t think of much that I really need that would lead me to line up and be jostled around in a store.

But it’s always fun to look.

Oh, and I did find some oven mitts in the Bay, pretty sure I managed to buy the only thing in the store not on sale for Boxing Day. Figures.