OC HIGH / STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS : Mall Moments
OC High asks: What’s the most unusual thing that’s happened to you at the mall?
“One day none of the stores had a big sale going on.”
Scott Sorbel, 18
senior, Troy
“I was at the mall with my mom, and we couldn’t find our car, so a tow truck driver had to take us around the parking lot for an hour until we found it.”
Katrina Smolen, 17
junior, St. Margaret’s
“My friends and I were attempting to chew this gigantic blue gum ball, and we were in a shoe store. I picked up a white shoe and this big gob of blue drool fell from my mouth onto the shoe.”
Kristin Murray, 16
junior, Trabuco Hills
“A little kid came up to me and asked me for my autograph because he said I looked like an actress on TV.”
Devon Grissom, 16
junior, Mission Viejo
“I was looking through shirts on a rack and knocked the entire rack over.”
Renee Bond, 16
junior, St. Margaret’s
“At Christmas, a flustered shopper, apparently in a big hurry, approached me and started piling loads of clothes into my arms. She paused, just long enough to catch the bewildered look on my face. ‘Why sweetheart,’ she said, ‘don’t you work here?’ ‘Noo-ooo,’ I stammered. She took back her clothes from my outstretched arms and went off to find a clerk. I think she was more embarrassed than I was.”
Jenette Roberts, 17
junior, Western
“An old lady pinched my behind.”
Michael Tran, 14
freshman, Los Amigos
“I fell on the escalator, and everyone clapped for me.”
Felena Francis, 15
freshman, Valencia
“I was at South Coast Plaza when a group of 13- or 14-year-olds approached me and my friends. It was November, right after Proposition 187 was passed, and they felt they had the right to tell us to go back to our own countries, thinking that the U.S. belonged to them or something. Then they started throwing leftover food at us. We got mad and just started yelling, and then decided to leave because it just wasn’t worth it.”
Daisy Singh, 16
junior, Canyon
“Once my friend and I were buying an anniversary card at the mall, and a very odd-looking woman approached us and asked us to fill out a survey about what we find attractive in a teen-age girl.”
Aman Grewall, 14
freshman, Villa Park
“I bought something with a sensor tag still on it. When I left the store, the alarm didn’t go off, but when I went into a different store, the alarm went off.”
Rana Townend, 15,
freshman,
Huntington Beach
“Accidentally walking in on an older woman trying on lingerie.”
Liz Perez, 19
senior, Western
“Somebody once came up to me and said, ‘Hey, babe, what’s your sign?’ ”
Joe Thompson, 15
sophomore, Irvine
“I saw a woman looking at the ceiling and praising its architecture.”
John Ho, 17
senior, Troy
“We broke an escalator by sitting on it.”
Katy Call, 15
sophomore, Laguna Beach
“I once got asked if I had a cigarette lighter that (a man) could borrow.”
Erica West, 16
junior, Irvine
“I found my parents in a lingerie store.”
Mary Cilderman, 15
sophomore, Mission Viejo
“Coming down the escalator, it stopped. I was standing in the middle of it, and I tripped and fell down the rest of the way.”
Randy Hein
senior, Dana Hills
“My friend and I were making a phone call and a guy appeared out of nowhere and complimented our feet. The next thing I knew he was offering to take Polaroid pictures of our feet for a modeling contest. Of course, we fell for it, let him take the pictures and, worse, gave him our names and phone numbers!”
Julie Maier, 17
senior, Capistrano Valley
“I was walking by, and a lady was having a seemingly enthralling conversation with her purse.”
Katherine Wich, 16
junior, Fountain Valley
“I saw Elvis in South Coast Plaza.”
Amanda Sainburg, 14
freshman, Newport Harbor
“I was standing beside a fountain in a mall, and this little kid dove in. He wouldn’t come out until his dad went to get him.”
Kimia Ghassemy, 16
junior, Trabuco Hills
“I lost my mother. I had to have her paged. I felt about the age of 2.”
Kristina Allen, 17
junior, Loara
“I started talking to this guy, and I found out that he was my best friend from elementary school.”
Karen Chiu, 15
sophomore, Los Amigos
“I actually didn’t spend any money!”
Son Kang, 18
senior, Valencia
“When I was young, I was curious to know how the escalator went up without stopping. As the arm rail kept on going, I followed it through the little hole, my hand started to go in the hole and a lady stopped the escalator.”
Suha Bandak, 16
junior, Western
“Somebody asked me to do a survey. They took me into this room and made me taste-test Pop-Tarts and a Pillsbury strudel.”
Florrie Hallenbeck,
15, sophomore,
St. Margaret’s
“It happened in northeastern Ohio. There was a bad storm outside, and the lightning struck the generators for the lights and air-conditioning in the mall. Everyone fell silent, as if without the light they couldn’t breathe anymore. When the lights came back on, everyone was trying hard to act natural. But everyone was still somewhat shocked.”
Jeff Morgan, 16
junior, Santiago
“I went out on the wrong side of the mall and couldn’t find my car and got lost in the parking lot for an hour.”
Morgon Hanlen
junior, Dana Hills
“I was downstairs in the mall acting like I knew what I was doing when I stepped on the escalator that was going the other direction.”
Manishi Parikh, 17
senior, Capistrano Valley
“I was working at Cinnabon when someone pointed to a cinnamon roll and said, ‘What is that?’ Duh !”
Cassidy Neal, 17
senior, Fountain Valley
“I had to go and defend my sister from these two girls that were pushing her around. They were following her all over the mall and harassing her.”
Jennifer Wade, 18
senior, Cypress
“My purse got stolen by a security guard.”
Melissa Richardson,
14, sophomore,
Newport Harbor
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Responses were gathered by Robert Wenzel, Irvine; Corey Griffin, Troy; Sabrina Friedman, Canyon; Amy Chen, Brea Olinda; Dan Nieto, Mission Viejo; Craig Hammill, Laguna Beach; Amy Woo, Huntington Beach; Lisa Lobo, Western; Jennifer Tobkin, Villa Park; Jennie Franck, St. Margaret’s; Lindsey Blenkhorn, Dana Hills; Joslin Gemsch, Capistrano Valley; Tricia Michels, Fountain Valley; Roxeanne McGraw, Cypress; Katrina Tangen, Newport Harbor; Samantha Wood, Trabuco Hills; Eve Winnick, Loara; Linda Dao, Los Amigos; Leeza Duong, Santiago; Ling Lu, Valencia.