A Sad Song of Time's Wrath
Imagine a mall packed full of people. Stores thriving with the currents of hurried yuppie shoppers and satisfied middle class. Imagine sitting on Santa's lap, hitting McDonalds, then rushing over to not one but THREE toy stores to ogle the vast selection of plastic and electric toys you hoped would arrive in the coming days. The sound of chatter surrounds, the scent of baked sweets abounds and wafts your nostrils from the food court. You smile knowing that everything is right in the world.
Now picture a ghost town of a mall. Dark store windows like candles of life snuffed out. A meager selection of businesses still open, surviving God knows how on a depleting lifeline. Being able to count the number of fellow shoppers on your extremities. A sense of unease, loneliness, and melancholy as you roam about the empty hallways, staring at yourself in the quiet windowpanes
This is the difference of metrocenter 20 years ago, and now.
I remember loving this place as a kid. I vividly remember Christmas shopping one year with my mother and her boyfriend, and it was so packed then. Every store busy.
Now, I'm sitting here, writing this review with a pang of remorse. I know I shouldn't reflect on the good old days, but it makes me a little sad to see how far it has fallen. Eventually metro will close down, and in the end, will be nothing more than a boarded building filled with forgotten childhood dreams and memories.