THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610160046
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HOLLY WESSTER[sic], CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 112 lines
FIFTY-FIVE-year-old James Carter lives for the mall.
Well, kind of.
Once or twice a week, the Virginia Beach waterproofer accompanies his wife, Mary, to Lynnhaven Mall, where she gets manicures, pays bills and, of course, shops.
Like many dedicated husbands, Carter comes for one reason and one reason only: To marvel over the mall's recent renovations.
That is, to park his hiney on one of the mall's 50-plus benches scattered throughout the lower level.
``When I come to get myself something, like a pair of shoes, I go to one store, buy 'em and go home,'' the bearded big guy in shades says from a bench outside JCPenney. ``Not my wife.
``We will go to six or seven stores, and we always end up back at the first one. I actually get tired of walking.''
``She won't let me sit in the truck,'' he says, sipping from his Hardee's cup. ``She thinks I'm going to fall asleep and get shot or something.
``So, I find me a nice bench in the mall and sit for an hour or two. And I enjoy it.''
On any given day of the week, those benches become homes away from home for hundreds of strolling shoppers.
By morning, they're occupied by seniors and husbands. By afternoon, they're busy with families and husbands.
And by night, they're crowded with teenagers and - you guessed it - husbands waiting for their wives to finish doing whatever wives do.
The life-size Barbie furniture they spend their time on has some kind of allure, but what is it?
It's not the aesthetics. Teal in color, the benches are punctured with tiny circular holes - making each bench look like a gigantic green cheese grater on stilts. Matching trash cans are paired with most.
It's not the comfort, either.
Metal in make up, the benches aren't equipped with arm rests, built-in massagers or pillows. The cold steel penetrates even the thickest of trousers.
The draw has something more to do with where the benches are in the mall, and what benefits a customer can reap from sitting at one - especially on a busy Saturday afternoon:
They are places to laugh.
Like the bench by the mall's little amusement center, five rides set on a platform, where toddlers make friends with other toddlers - by pushing them down or stealing their toys.
They are places to cry.
Like the bench outside Regis, where a man with a Marine buzz cut watches in horror as his wife has her long, curly blond locks chopped.
Yikes!
They are places to say, ``If that were my kid, I'd . . . ''
Like the bench outside Hofheimer's Stride Rite Bootery, where a yelping little boy's grandparents are buying him a new pair of birthday shoes.
As they walk out, Junior - wearing a Power Rangers sweatshirt - begins punching and karate-kicking his grandma, who does absolutely nothing.
They are places where you can be a legal voyeur.
Like the one facing The Vacation Store, a kiosk where a cruise video plays. On the screen is everything from bronze and buff men and women gyrating in loincloths to bronze and buff men and women walking on beaches.
To the left of the vacation booth is Victoria's Secret. The doorway is crowded by a poster of Claudia Schiffer in a wide-open romper. Her gray bra shows, and the store's lingerie hangs in windows behind her.
They are places to be seen.
Like the three benches that line the ``hip strip,'' where cool stores like Express, Limited and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. draw cool people who like to buy cool clothes.
They are places where you can be alone.
Like the secluded seat by Barrington's. It's sandwiched between a mall directory and a few phone booths - making it a perfect spot to nurse a kid or make out with a boyfriend.
They are places to just veg.
Like the benches outside Gloria Jean's Coffee Beans. There's the tripod directly across from the cafe in the wall, and another bench just down the way.
From either place, a customer can suck up the aroma of thousands of little caffeine beans - a sexy scent that overpowers the fast food funk that lingers above.
But best of all, benches are places to learn.
``He's a frustrated woman, a shopoholic,'' 45-year-old Amiee Isfalt says of her hubby, Ed, while she mans a shopping bag outside Hecht's. ``He takes forever.''
Ed, she says, is shopping for shoelaces - leather shoelaces - while she waits. She just finished having a root canal, and she is not in the mood to wander.
``He has to have a certain kind, with a certain a strength or something,'' Isfalt adds. ``I don't know - that's why I'm sitting here.''
But, like James Carter, this spouse doesn't mind.
``I like to sit and watch people,'' she says, adding that the mall is her favorite place to people-gaze. ``You can see some real characters here.
``Like the kids, who can be really goofy. Or the teenagers, who try to impress each other.
``Or the old guy, who is bored stupid.
``You see people, and you wonder about them. You make up little stories in your head about them.
``And most of them don't even realize you're watching them.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
HOLLY WESTER
The new benches at Lynnhaven Mall attract a lot of men while their
wives shop, like James Carter of Virginia Beach, waiting for wife
Mary.
Photo
HOLLY WESTER
Jennifer Navarro, 15, a sophomore at Salem High School in Virginia
Beach, waits on a bench with sister Vanessa, 7, and brother Bryan,
4, while their parents shop at Lynnhaven Mall. by CNB