Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/living-in-the-real-world-its-the-real-thing/5007021/
"The purpose of life is, after all, to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." - Eleanor Roosevelt"Gimme an L! Gimme an I! Gimme a V! Gimme an E! L-I-V-E! Otherwise you got nothing to talk about in the locker room." - Ruth Gordon to Bud Cort in "Harold and Maude"
We are growing used to shopping malls replacing city downtowns. The civilized world, as we like to think of ourselves, is increasingly fastidious and cautious. In the mall, trees flourish without visible water or dirt. Autumn leaves do not fall because there is no real autumn in a mall, only Halloween displays and Thanksgiving sales.
Life is carefully measured. Bird sounds may be piped in, amidst the safe cheery music bearing no chords of ethnicity or individual style. Seasons are signalled by sales, holiday music, and commercial art. There is food, magically produced through invisible deliveries, and garbage pick up. There are no shadows, no discordant noises, few signs of age or wear.
People are measured, too. The streets and lanes of the mall are private property; ...