I hate the Concord Mall. All malls, really. I never go to them. In fact, as I was walking down the Concord Mall (in Wilmington, Delaware) with my kids yesterday, I was thinking that for both of them, this was their first time just ‘walking the mall.’ And my oldest just turned 4, tells you how often I go. A few times they’ve been in & out of one to go to Picture People, but never just to walk and recreationally shop.

First, the good parts about yesterday. We had a lovely, albeit very early, lunch at Chick Fil A. And now, when you do the survey on your receipt, you get a coupon for free food. Then we headed to Carters, which was having a good sale. And……..they put an Osh Kosh in right next to the Carters on Concord Pike. Donating the baby stuff I had felt very cleansing, got good deals……all in all feeling good about the day. I had my $50 Gap coupon from Groupon in my wallet, so decided to stop at the Concord Mall. I wanted to see if maybe I wanted to treat myself to something or if they had holiday outfits out yet for the boys.

I’ve always preferred the Christiana Mall to Concord and they are equidistant from my house. Then Christiana had those problems with gang fights or whatever it was, so I stopped going there–haven’t been there since the renovations which I know is a few years. But I’ve never liked Concord Mall. Then in 2004 or so, some jackass hit my car and left. The dent is still there, we never got around to getting it fixed. It obviously was some asshat in an SUV, the height & shape of the damage is exactly where an SUV bumper would be. And I remember calling the Wilmington city police to report it, and was told it would be several hours before someone got there. I think yesterday may have been my first day back there since that incident.  So I already hate it. Reason 1.

Get there yesterday and was reminded of how stupid their parking lot is set up. Reason 2.

Find a spot and head for the door. No ramp! Isn’t that part of ADA or something, that you have to have one?!? With both boys plus the weight of the double stroller, it’s about 100 lbs. I cannot lift it up myself. I walk down the mall, outside, to an entrance with a ramp. Reason 3.

Get up on the sidewalk, finally, and guess what? No automatic doors. I hate businesses without automatic doors, especially when it’s not unrealistic to expect them to have one. Again, isn’t this a part of ADA? I have to maneuver myself to hold the door and get a double stroller into two sets of doors. Or depend on the kindess of strangers, but I often find that chivalry is indeed dead. (On many occasions I’ve stood next to a day-glow orange sign that states “State Law-Must stop for pedestrians” while holding a baby, and had people whizz past me at 35 mph) But no auto doors, reason 4.

Get in the mall……….and no Gap. Seriously? What mall doesn’t have a Gap? Judging by the number of cheezy kiosks selling counterfeit handbags and such, I’d say this mall is headed for the crapper. But no Gap? Isn’t the Gap like the last store to holdout and leave? No Gap, reason 5.

We go into a few stores, after about 20 minutes my boys make it very clear to me that they have survived an entire lifetime without mall-walking, and they aren’t about to start enjoying it now.

So we leave. Out two sets of heavy doors that are not automatic. Down the mall to the ramp……only to find some jerk parked in front of it! Seriously? There aren’t 500 other possibilities here for you to illegally park? You have to park in front of the one and only ramp? Some kind soul helps me lift the stroller down and away we go…………never to return!

Got home before 1:00, which left us plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful weather.