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> Its like an entire generation has re-discovered the mall again and its refreshing to see... Sometimes I feel like I'm in a dream I am really really sorry to

> Its like an entire generation has re-discovered the mall again and its refreshing to see... Sometimes I feel like I'm in a dream I am really really sorry to go off-topic here, but as an European this is... So strange and slightly hilarious to me. We went to a park. Or local river/lake.

mike_hearn 2y ago
"As a European", no we didn't. Europe is far too big to generalize so casually like that. In many northern parts of Europe it is frequently raining. In the 80s and 90s me and my friends spent our time indoors because when it was either cold, or cold and wet. You might get a month or two in summer when the weather was better - if you were lucky. So we spent our time indoors, doing homework or on computers, or round each other's houses (playing video games with each other). A mall would have been a useful place to hang out because it's under a roof and there are things to do, but there were very few good malls in that part of the UK and anyway to get to them you'd have to be able to drive. But there's no culture of young driving there. In the USA in some states you can drive at 14! In the UK you can't even start learning until 16 and in most of Europe the minimum driving age is 18.
throwaway2037 2y ago
Where in Europe?
brushfoot 2y ago
So did I, as an American. Locale, culture, and parents' values probably have more influence on this than continent. That said, I don't think there's anything particularly strange/hilarious about people congregating in spaces built for congregation or feeling nostalgia for those spaces and experiences as they've begun to fade away. Memories can be made anywhere, and not everyone has access to the green spaces that you and I did as children.
- zigman1 2y ago
  > I don't think there's anything particularly strange/hilarious about people congregating in spaces built for congregation or feeling nostalgia for those spaces and experiences as they've begun to fade away. You are right about that, and I admit I didn't thought of that perspective when I was writing my comment. The reason it evokes those feeling of me, is my immediate view of malls as purely consumer space, where everything is aimed at you to spend your money and this is their primary function. My knowledge of malls is limited either to their depiction in movies or experience of shopping malls in my country, where they are probably a bit different and not the most pleasant hanging out space I could imagine. But again, you are completely right about that and thanks for pointing that out!

mike_hearn 2y ago

"As a European", no we didn't. Europe is far too big to generalize so casually like that. In many northern parts of Europe it is frequently raining. In the 80s and 90s me and my friends spent our time indoors because when it was either cold, or cold and wet. You might get a month or two in summer when the weather was better - if you were lucky. So we spent our time indoors, doing homework or on computers, or round each other's houses (playing video games with each other). A mall would have been a useful place to hang out because it's under a roof and there are things to do, but there were very few good malls in that part of the UK and anyway to get to them you'd have to be able to drive. But there's no culture of young driving there. In the USA in some states you can drive at 14! In the UK you can't even start learning until 16 and in most of Europe the minimum driving age is 18.

throwaway2037 2y ago

Where in Europe?

brushfoot 2y ago

So did I, as an American. Locale, culture, and parents' values probably have more influence on this than continent. That said, I don't think there's anything particularly strange/hilarious about people congregating in spaces built for congregation or feeling nostalgia for those spaces and experiences as they've begun to fade away. Memories can be made anywhere, and not everyone has access to the green spaces that you and I did as children.

zigman1 2y ago
> I don't think there's anything particularly strange/hilarious about people congregating in spaces built for congregation or feeling nostalgia for those spaces and experiences as they've begun to fade away. You are right about that, and I admit I didn't thought of that perspective when I was writing my comment. The reason it evokes those feeling of me, is my immediate view of malls as purely consumer space, where everything is aimed at you to spend your money and this is their primary function. My knowledge of malls is limited either to their depiction in movies or experience of shopping malls in my country, where they are probably a bit different and not the most pleasant hanging out space I could imagine. But again, you are completely right about that and thanks for pointing that out!