There's a few ideas whirling around in my head on what to blog about... But considering my waning energy and the late hour, I'll go with the one that requires the least amount of effort: mall benches.
Silly that it's taken me 11 months to identify this, but I realized yesterday evening that I have never even ONCE seen a bench in a mall in Beirut. I've been to a bunch of malls - ABC Achrafieh, LeMall Sin-el-Fil and Dbayeh , City Mall, and the new City Center- and probably a few more. All of a sudden while walking around with Valor, it hit me... NO BENCHES. Not a single place a person could sit down that's "free of charge." No fountains or greenery or wide open spaces either (not sure if they're connected). Plenty of cafe seating, but nothing where I could just sit down for a second to tie my shoe. Or feed a snack to my toddler. Or rest my weary legs. Or just people watch.
For the Lebanese reading this, you have to know a bit more about "mall culture" in the States. Well, not that I know a lot about mall culture. But most, if not all malls have benches and fountains and plants/trees throughout. There are plenty of places to sit. One thing this leads to is lots of "loitering" - especially by teenagers on weekend nights. (it's free and you can be with your friends!)
I actually am not bothered by the lack of benches. I don't need one, and if I really did, I'd probably just pay for a cup of coffee and sit at the cafe! I'm just totally curious about this phenomenon and what it means. Is it cultural? Or is it just a product of environment? I'm thinking maybe:
- it's a way for the cafes to make more money because sitting = paying? or
- they have to maximize use of space b/c there's not much space in Beirut - malls can't be bigger and benches would severely impact pedestrian traffic (although I'm thinking about City Mall in my head and they could afford some benches in a few places!)
Any thoughts? Particularly interested in the Lebanese or permanent residents' thoughts on this!!!
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