pocket mice endeavor

after my cat went missing (i had him for 11 years) i got kinda sad.. until the week Cali came to visit em and we decided to go to the Lloyd center.. (toooo big) while getting lost in the Lloyd center we came acrossed a scamps pets.. and there in the "fancy" mice cage was love at first sight in the form of a black and white and grey calico mouse. her name is mousey and she is my pocket mouse. i don't know what overcame me to buy her (but i don't know why i do alot of things either) she loved the mall,eager for me to take her out of her cage in the mornings and let her in my pocket. people loved her too.. stopping to marvel or pet her or ask Q's. i bought her a purple ball and let her Rome around when i was in the front, but mousey grew lonely at night when i had to return her to her Cage and a few weeks later i decided she needed a friend.. so it was back to scamps (but the one by the mall not in the Lloyd center) his name was Mr mouse and he was an all brown macho mouse (though he was really a big wimp) and you know what happens with boy and girl mice right? ya... lots of baby's.. so i decided i should sell these baby's as pocket mice too.. (still have yet to sell a few) since having babys she has been alil cooped up and is currently mad at me (she gets over it after about an hour of freedom (cmon 10 baby's would drive you nuts too) currently my big pocket mice plan is ineffective but i hope to restart it someday. it was around this time news of the max opening started..

the city of rats

over the next couple of months i discovered the front of the mall. there is great debate on what part is the front of the mall. some say the side with Barnes and noble, some say the theater side, in my mind its the theater side. i never liked this spot much in the crummier months the wind was a bother and there is no cover from the rain. but as the weather got nicer i found myself out there more and more. when you spend time in one area you start to notice other regulars and recognize other faces. i became familiar with the city of rats(its not actually called that but again in my head it is) you have everything from the Russians who keep to there group more and speak Russian but are still friendly (ish) and you have people who could kill you if you mess with them and you have others but i am not naming names for confidential reasons, (to hide it from mall security lol jk) but anyways the front is great you often get people who are just passing thru stop and have a conversation or people who ask if you know where a store is (mostly black house white market) and occasionally you will get one of the t Mobile people from in the mall trying to sell you a phone. within 2 months of hanging in the front i made like 50 friends, it is a very friendly place (after you get past the drama) it was during this time my cat disappeared..

the oldest mall rat

it was on the final day of 3 feet snow (before it started melting) that i met Marvin, Marvin was in a automated wheel chair with a American flag and i think a navy flag he is like 81 and a veteran sniper ( or so he says but he is old so i believe him) I asked him how he could get through all this snow in that chair and he chuckled and said magic. i have seen him around but that was the first time i met Marvin, we (me and my friend em) ended up listening to the old mans story's for the next 2 hours transfixed. he was a sweet old man that seemed like he could be your grandpa, telling us story's of his past, his past loves, the war. and that is just the begging,later he will be involved in a funny rave situation we got into but that's later) the thing that meant the most is when we asked him why he was here (mall), his response hit home. and in the words of Marvin " i like it here, there is always interesting people to talk to, better to be here then rotting in a home I'm happy here"

the big snow.

*3-5 inches of snow expected* ya... lies.. we got about 2 and a half FEET! my usual mall trip became extremely complicated. the usual 40 min trip became a 2-3 hour adventure. sleds and skis no longer could be used for transport due to the depth of the snow witch was still coming down. by the time i reached monteray bridge with the mall in view i couldn't help but feel overjoyed that i could finally thaw out, idk who's idea it was to meet up at the mall but thinking back it was pretty crazy, we showed up at the mall each and every day faithfully, the mayhem i had been expecting inside the mall was non existent. due to the weather not many people could get to the mall,the roads were far to dangerous, it was beautiful. the clackamas town center in a blanket of fresh snow almost in hibernation due to the lack of people. we passed the time by chatting with numerous store clerks who had maybe a single customer all day, it was on the final day of 3 feet Snow i met Marvin..

return to the present

a new day a new trip to the mall. the usual walk to the mall goes smooth (25-40 min) i notice its getting colder out and its 530 i can see my breath, i was still in school at this point and walked to the mall at 5 every morning to catch a bus to another bus to Putnam to take a bus to new urban (OK so i could have saved the trouble and taken a bus to chs and then to new urban) but i enjoyed the stillness of the sleeping mall. still dark out and only a little glow illuminating it. but a few months later i got my GED, (ya... not proud) and began spending most my day at the mall.. it was early December.. the major snow storm was approaching (we didn't know it yet) i started meeting more people and instead of spending my time mostly at sears SS. i gradually started hanging in the front..

define mall rat

mall rat: someone who spends too much time at the mall. ya that's me alright, i spend nearly every day at the mall admiring the new design browsing the sales and catching up with my friends, i like it there its not too big like the Lloyd center but not to small like the promenade.i remember one of the first trips to ctc.. i was about 5 and my mom said i needed new clothes and took me to baby gap.. bad idea i threw a fit because i only wanted blue jeans instead of dresses i won this battle and as always we stopped in the food court before returning home, keep in mind this was before the remodel and the ice rink still existed, i watched the skaters and noticed the business and the bustle around me, it comforted me and i was sad to see it go when we had to leave it was at that moment i decided i would become part of it one day. and my dream was to own it (yes yes to far fetched) or at least be in management or someone high and mighty who considered the mall there baby and i would do everything to succeed.