The largest commercial city in the Kingdom is possibly well on its way to garner the dubious distinction of having the most shopping malls per inhabitants of any urban city in the world. Perhaps the city planners of Jeddah deem it worthwhile to be considered for inclusion in the Guinness World Records, an attestation, if you will, of a job well done by our dynamic and inventive municipal officials. The city can already boast of having the tallest flagpole in the world, the highest fountain and is on its way to having the highest building in the world, the one-kilometer-high Jeddah Tower. Meanwhile, let's forget the fact that our roads are in such a pitiful state that they send most vehicles and their occupants weekly to workshops or chiropractors. Or the fact that we do not have enough public recreation areas for our young ones to play in. Or the dismal lack of public libraries and cultural centers. Hey, who needs them when you've got a shopping mall springing up on practically every street corner? The mall madness is obviously a boon for its patrons, as it affords them an evening out in a temperature -controlled environment. With beachfronts inaccessible to most of the public, and no real entertainment venues along with driving in heavy and chaotic traffic around the city, malls today are transforming themselves into the oases of the past. A recent visit on a busy weekend to an upscale mall in the city provided me with a glimpse of the social mores of our ever-changing society. Throngs of cars drove up to the mall entrance, unloading their passengers, while their drivers moved on to find a parking spot. Just a few feet from the entrance, hordes of drivers sauntered into their ethnic gatherings, trading news and gossip from back home. In an assembly worthy of a UN mini-summit for Asia and Africa, these representatives from countries, such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Egypt and Sudan formed tight groups along national boundaries. Inside the mall, the atmosphere, on this busy Thursday evening, bordered on the festive. There were families in groups of six or more, more often than not with their children wild and unleashed; there were teenagers of both sexes bursting with testosterone and in their full plume, and then there were those middle-aged men devoid of any family members and whose purpose for visiting such establishments, apart from sitting for hours in coffee shops, on its own requires a study by social scientists. They sit staring unabashedly at any female who passes by, while gulping down endless cups of Turkish coffee, with three mobile phones spread on the table in front of them, undoubtedly in anticipation with Bluetooth turned on. The absence of the members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) followed by the obligatory policemen has been a great relief to them. From our vantage point in such a coffee shop overlooking the mall center, my wife and I observed many a "peacock", a term I have conjured for those young men out to impress, either with their sizeable manes or their outlandish outfits. And the young women matched them in dare, with some obviously just making their way to the mall from an appointment at the beauty salon dazzling with their make-up and jewelry, and their inventiveness with the abaya. Yes indeed, a place to be seen and admired. Shops loudly displayed their sale signs, some with up to 80 percent discounts, but there were few takers, as most of the throng just moved on, predictably looking but not plunking down the cash, as salesmen hovered about feverishly hoping for a sale. Perhaps the economy has gone into an austerity mode. The busiest places observed, where customers were indeed parting with their riyals, were the hypermarket and the food court. One can hold off buying Coach handbags or Guess sportswear for now, but one has to eat. In the food court, families grabbed available tables and seating, frequently more than they required, while others wandered around desperately searching for a table on which to place their tray of food. Shades of territorial expansion with no thought for your fellow man! I suppose the only thing lacking in this complex was a multiplex movie theater that might have enticed these crowds to spend their money on something besides food. There is talk of that too coming in the near future to a mall in your neighborhood. — The author can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @talmaeena
