If you ask me, I'll tell you the smoking ban forever sealed the fate of the suburban mall. Once the hotbed of suburban society, the local mall is on it's last breath. You see, shopping is one of the most anxiety-inducing recreational sports, in a way that no mall smoothie or CPK pizza could begin to alleviate. The need to buy something often trumps the attractiveness of the goods at hand, while on the rare occassion that the elusive gotta-have gem reveals itself, adequate funds are likely MIA. In such cases, a cigarette would offer the guilty conscience soothe, convincing you that you DO look great in that jacket (when it's really only the smoke stick working it's aesthetic powers), OR conversely that you should just relax, blow your savings and make it up down the road. This, my friends, is why people prefer to shop downtowns again and why developers are propping strip malls and outdoor shopping complexes in every backyard from Greenwich to Tuscon. Some people just smoke and shop online in the comfort of their bedrooms. So in a tribute of epic proportions, I present to you, the American mall pre-smoking ban. You can just smell the nicotine on these photos.
