Fun, Sun, Shop, Stop

Used to be when you needed to buy something in Bake Town you would head on down to the Valley Plaza and pick out a shirt & some Levi's from Miller's Outpost (which looked exactly the same as everybody else's in school.) Then maybe you'd drop into the Orange Julius before heading into Coach House Gifts for some knick-knacks. Not anymore.

Things have really changed. The only shops that remain from the good old days are the Cookie Factory and the Piercing Pagoda. In between the rows of shops are small booths taking up room selling useless crap. Inside each booth is a bored teenager, chewing gum and watching the shoppers struggle like salmon heading upstream to get to the next novelty shop. A walk through the Plaza is truly an adventure. You have to stay alert, but it's also important not to make eye-contact with any of the roaming gangstas.

I still miss the fish ponds and the giant hanging bead things - those were cool. Now at the end of each long hall Plaza officials have thoughtfully added what appears to be small living room sets. A rug and several comfortable sofas and chairs are strategically placed so weary elderly patrons can rest and "people watch" the younger generations frantically rushing to get the very last Abercrombie t-shirt.

Maybe things haven't changed that much after all.