MOA and Gopher Tailgating...MN Traditions?

#1) I found myself continually chuckling as I read the MOA article, mainly because I could place myself in a lot of the same settings as Snyder describes. It brings me back to about second grade when I MOA had just opened. I thought it was Christmas all over because my parents had actually pulled me and my younger sister out of school just so we could visit the MOA! I thought to miss school for the MOA...this place must be really something! Now...I try to avoid the MOA at all costs! Hmmmm...could it be because of the "mallrats." Maybe it is the constant aroma of fast food and loud music from the never-ending fashion shows that take place on the lower level...the corny music blaring while beaming young boys and girls show off falls latest looks. In the meanwhile hundreds of young teens beg their mom's to "go buy those jeans" or "return the sweater they bought the other day for this one!" So these jeans and the new sweater are now what define this teen as they walk through the doors of school. Their identity is made out of 50% denim and 50% wool...and it better be the best darn denim and wool in the district if they are going to survive. It always fascinates me to watch mothers and children school shop. For some it is the dreaded day of spending time with mom and being forced to try on a million different jeans until you are so hot and dizzy from being trapped in the dressing room you might just faint right then and there. For others, it is a time to go hog wild wild with the credit card and gather as much "ammunition" as possible to survive  the school year. I say ammunition because that is what it is: 5 cool shirts to get you through the week without being ridiculed by your peers. And for some it means hitting local garage sales and buying things second hand. I hold a huge garage sale every year. A lot of the local school kids stop by not knowing who I am and buy a lot of my old shirts . I often see a lot of my "oldies but goodies" walking the halls of the high school. Always brings a smile to my face. :)
I always remember school shopping with my mom...a HUGE deal and something she looked forward to more than me. I have the type of mom who buys you enough clothes so that maybe you wear the same shirt twice in one year. So one can imagine the extravaganza I went through every fall. Bless her heart...but I hated it! The mall made me cringe and to this day I hate shopping! I could not stand trying on pant after pant and shirt after shirt. So I guess I could say I developed  a kind of negative connotation for malls. I agree with Snyder that the "mall is like a machine," a busy, noisy public area where one is pressured to conform and develop a false identity. When you think about it very generally, the mall is where teens go to get things that everyone else has...things that will make the fit. Does it encourage individuality or does it thrive on the notion that everyone in it wants the same thing...to belong.
Shopping defines Cher, in Clueless. Cher brings the "outcast" of the school to mall and wallah....she fits in!

#2) Location: Tailgating before U of M football game, Dinkytown, MN.
So as I am walking towards my tailgate destination I notice boys and men of all different demeanors but for the most part they are nuts! Bodies painted, beers in hand, aviator glasses, loud raspy voices because they have been up since dawn! I am not quick to judge though...I have had fair share of fun tailgates in college!