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December 2, 2004, 10:50 AM

It’s very amusing what happens when two friends go to the mall sometimes. Take for instance, Katie and I, who are also coworkers at Wal-Mart. We went to the Staunton Mall, and basically had a blast.

One thing we did was have our pictures taken with Santa Claus:

Santa learned that we worked at the Waynesboro Wal-Mart, and had a message for us. Tell Joseph in the pet department that “Santa Harry” said hello. We shall.

Later on, down in the other end of the Staunton Mall, we went into KB Toys to see what they had. They must have had a good day, since there were quite a few bare patches in their store. We also got to playing with the stuffed animals. Katie and I ended up each posing with a stuffed snake. I intend to show a coworker at the Service Desk my snake photo, since snakes kind of creep me out, and this particular coworker likes snakes. But anyway, this is what we looked like:

I’m just like, yeah, I’ve got a snake on me here.

And then here’s Katie:

I believe I caught her mid-laugh in that photo.

We also went up to the CVS at the mall, where we looked at their Christmas trinkets, like the things that play Christmas music and such. They must have the same seasonal supplier as Wal-Mart, as they have some of the same stuff, but with CVS’s brand on it instead of Wal-Mart’s “Holiday Time” brand. Still, though, it reminds me of when, back in October, I saw this talking cat that goes, “I’m just an alley cat, with an alley life…” Katie and I agreed that the cat was the most memorable Halloween item we had in the store, since the song was so memorable. Can’t remember all the words, but goodness, I can tell you the whole tune.

And then lastly before leaving, we encountered a guy who was selling an expensive nail-buffing kit. He did my left thumb nail, first with the black end of the buffer, which smoothed out all the ridges and rough edges. Then he used the smoother white side to shine it up. I must admit it was shiny.

It was a nice effect, indeed, but a shiny nail… I don’t know. For me it was a useless product. But the guy then had me smell all the different lotions that came in the pack with the buffer (most, which to be quite honest, either smelled more like chemicals than the scent they professed to be – but mind you, I’m also a bit congested due to a minor cold). Then came the sales pitch. They sell this on TV for $59.95. However, here in the mall, the price is $29.95. By the way, despite his high-pressure sales tactics, I ended up walking out of the mall without a nail buffer. But anyway, I was still diplomatic about it. “I’ll have to think about it.” Now comes where I want to slap the guy. He tells us that he’s going to, for just right now, cut the price even further, showing us on his calculator what he’d charge us, since it was so low he couldn’t say it out loud. He put in “20” on the calculator. More high pressure sales tactics. Good only while we’re here right now. I told him straight up that I’d rather make a purchase after thinking about it, rather than going on impulse. He said, that he always goes on his impulses. This is when we start doing the walking-off thing. Though I had to slightly encourage Katie to do the same. But we got away from this salesman without giving him a cent.

I so hate high-pressure sales tactics. I absolutely refuse to buy from someone using a high-pressure tactic like that. It should also be noted that when I got home, I used a nail file and “fixed” my nail to return it to the way it was. You would have never known that the guy had messed with it now. It looks just like all the rest of my not-as-smooth nails. And my nails look just fine anyway.

Still, we had a fun time at the mall. Also then went to the Sheetz in Fishersville, where grub was the word of the day. Also “Sheetz Bros. Coffee”, where I had the amazingly tart (but so tasty) lemon smoothie, and Katie had some mixed mocha thing.

And now today, I’m heading out to Roanoke.

Web site: It seems that Colonial Properties Trust, who owns Staunton Mall, is trying to sell it off. By the way, Staunton Mall's official name is "Colonial Mall Staunton", but no one actually calls it that, preferring to use the name it had carried for ages and was more fitting anyway - "Staunton Mall". You say, "I'm going to Colonial Mall," and people are going to look at you strangely. Say, "I'm going to Staunton Mall," and you can keep the odd looks away.

Song: The alley-cat song from that toy cat. "I'm just an alley cat, with an alley life..."

Quote: By the way, this is Staunton Mall's official Web site, if anyone's interested...

Categories: Katie, Shopping, Staunton Mall