Malls and I Don't Get Along Too Well

Day 1 of fallout from Saturday was an interesting one.  For starters, I woke up with this huge headache and sinus pain, which I thought I had mostly gotten over, and I just kinda lay in bed for three hours.  Alternated with my eyes being open and shut.  And I wasn't really sleeping either.  I was in that semi-conscious state where I knew I was in bed, but my mind was processing thoughts like I was dreaming, but I wasn't really dreaming, you know?  It was kinda like I was lying there watching a movie in my head, but I was in the movie?  I don't really know... I mean, I was sick on Saturday, so that might've contributed to it a little bit, but still, it was an interesting thing.  Really, you had to have been there, because my explaining doesn't do it justice.

Finally decided to end that by sitting up, and then I grabbed my guitar and fooled around for about half an hour.  I wouldn't say I'm proficient at guitar.  I can't fingerpick at all.  I do know chords and how to strum though.  Mostly Beatles songs, since they're my favorite band, but I do know some other things too.  Think I ran through about 7 songs.  Played them from memory too, which surprises me because I suck at memorizing things on piano, but it's whatever.

Then I realized that I had planned to go to the mall to buy a Steelers hat, since I was rooting for them in the Super Bowl and I didn't have any Steelers clothes or anything.  Plus, I got a $50 gift card to Lids for Christmas, so I thought I'd use that.  But my mom told me that my brother had the truck and was already at the mall, and the rest of them were planning on going to the mall, so I should go with them if I wanted to go.  So I agreed and got ready.  Put my contacts in for the first time in forever.  I should really wear those more often... but I digress.

Now, I should mention at this point that I'm not really a mall guy.  I mean, sure, there's some nice deals and all, but fashion's not high on my priority list.  I like plain clothes, nothing too flashy, and I work at Target so I do most of my shopping there.  But I knew Target didn't have Steelers stuff since they only carry stuff for the local teams, and I figured Lids probably would, so I figured, "Why not?"  Maybe I could find something else I like while I'm there, or whatever.

So I get in the car and go to the mall.  My sister just turned 13 and she's been a bit moody lately, but she was glad today because my parents were buying her some new Converse tennis shoes as a late present.  She was talking at a mile a minute about these shoes in the car, and I just couldn't wait to get out so I wouldn't have to hear her go on and on about them.  We finally get there, and my parents and sister decide to look in Sears for the shoes first while I go to look for my hat.  Why they looked in Sears, I don't know.  I mean, Sears is a great place to shop if you're looking for something that's not in a size 1, 3, or 5, or a washing machine, but tennis shoes? 

So I get to Lids, and they don't have a Steelers hat on display.  I looked for about 5 minutes.  There were 3 guys working there, and the entire time I'm in the store, instead of coming to ask if I need help, they're standing at the counter laughing their asses off because one of them did something completely stupid, and he and the other two were laughing at how stupid he was.  I walked around the entire bloody store three times, scanning the walls and the racks looking for a stupid Steelers hat, and they didn't even try to help me.  Jackasses.  So I leave, and I go back to Sears, and my family's not there, and they aren't answering their phones, so I walked around the mall looking for them.  After I circled the entire second floor, I remembered why I don't really like going to the mall.  It just reminds me of how shallow and superficial people are coming.  Loud groups of people blocking the entire walkway, not giving a crap that they're in your way; the music coming from two stores next to each other sounds exactly the same, equally annoying; and the employees of many of the businesses look like they just rolled out of bed, and they treat you like shit because they don't care, they're just there to get paid, to hell with doing any work.  It's awesome.  I finally got a text from my dad saying where they were, and I just kinda sat on a bench outside the store, not wanting to be there, until they finished paying and we went home.

Or at least, we went to Wal-Mart to get hot dogs for the Super Bowl.  Or at least, we tried to get hot dogs, but Wal-Mart was out for some reason or another, so Dad drove us to KFC instead.  I usually don't have a problem with KFC, but sometimes I don't want to feel like I'm actually shoving lard into my bloodstream.  Luckily though, Dad was nice enough to get some grilled chicken, so I was okay with that.  And they gave us an entire bucket full of biscuits for some reason.  Really?  I like biscuits, but seriously, we now have a ziplock bag with about 20 leftover biscuits on our table.  Amazing.

We got home just before kickoff.  Didn't have much to root for in the first half.  The Packers owned Pittsburgh in the first quarter, and the Steelers didn't do as much as they could have in the second.  Then halftime rolled around, and I left.  Didn't want to see the Black Eyed Peas.  They're okay, but I just didn't really want to see them perform.  Maybe it's just a bit of burnout on my part, but I hear their music way too much on the radio, and... yeah. 

So I went to Target.  It was pretty dead in there, what with everybody at home watching the game.  Chewed the fat with my friend Lewis for a while.  He's the guy I mentioned I've been talking about getting an apartment with.  We talked about things that I'm not going to post here for the moment, but it was a good chat, all in all.  Quite... educational.  Plus, I played the demo for MLB The Show 2010, a game that's been out for almost a year!  Then I wandered around for another five minutes or so before going home.

The rest of the game was okay.  I'm not really all that upset that Green Bay won, even though I was rooting against them.  I have nothing against the Packers, and they played a great game.  Now, if the Patriots were playing and they had won, I would be furious.  Not a New England fan.  I'm a Rams fan, so I'm sworn to hate the Pats.  Fricking cheaters.  But that's another story entirely.

Then I decided to watch the episode of Glee that came on after the Super Bowl.  Glee is a guilty pleasure of mine.  I like music, and I can relate to the characters because in high school I was in a club that was rather low in the hierarchical structure in place in most high schools.  I didn't suffer the abuse the kids in the show go through, but I knew I was low on the totem pole.  Anyway, my brother and sister chastized the crap out of me for watching tonight, but hey, I haven't been able to watch in a while, and I've got class when it's normally on, so I just told them to screw off.  They also were... less than enthusiastic when I told them I bought the first season on DVD.  But you know what, it's my money, and I chose to spend it on that.  Plus, I couldn't find Friday Night Lights, recommended to me by my friend RJ, who deserves a shout out.  FNL is a good show though, from the episodes that I've seen.

And now, to finish my summary of Day 1/(now) Day 2 of the aftermath, it hasn't been terrible.  My friend and I haven't talked since I said what I said, but I expected that.  I'll just have to play things by ear one day at a time.  I'm sorry for what I did, but I'm not sorry that I did it.  Just please remember that I'm hurting too, because I have thoughts too you know.