Everything we did at the Trumbull Mall when we were younger

Back when the days were simpler, and we didn’t have an infinite amount of work sitting our desks, our preteen/teenager selves would most likely be caught spending hours each day doing absolutely nothing with friends. And the best place to do this? The mall no doubt.

The mall was like a haven for middle school and young high school kids alike. Without the privilege of a license and car, we all needed somewhere to go where we could either walk to or get dropped off at, and the mall provided this optimal hang out spot.

This couldn’t be more true for the Trumbull Mall, in Trumbull, Connecticut. Like when you would walk by the Mrs. Fields cookie shop and the air smelt like fresh out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies. There was no way that we could walk away from that, and the mall was forever changed when it was replaced a couple years ago.

Or those late night dinners at Ruby Tuesday’s right next to Lord and Taylor, staying an extra long amount of time to vent about school and friends. Or even if you could get a ride, going to the famous Merritt Canteen down the road to sip on some ice cold milkshakes and eat fried oreos until your stomach hurt.

Whatever it was, we all grew up loving our Trumbull Mall.

You always spent least one hour in F.Y.E. looking at the latest CDs and DVDs

Pre-Apple times, many of us has to resort to using our classic Sony CD players or buying a DVD to watch a movie instead of just instant streaming. This store was the classic place to go if you wanted to see the new music and movies that had just come out. Nowadays, since the relevance of the store is slowly fading, they’re selling merchandise and various games to keep up with the younger generation today. Even though this was the first time I had stepped back into F.Y.E. in a while, this store will definitely always be a staple at the mall to me.

You took a whiff of every single scented candle at Yankee Candle 

Photo by Lekha Alaparthi

Guaranteed that we lost some of our receptors in our noses from stuffing our faces in the candles, but this was still a highlight of the mall experience. A trip to the mall wasn’t completed until you had an argument with your friends as to which scent was the best, which was dumb anyways because none of us had any use for candles at all.

You took a nap in the massage chairs in Brookstone 

Photo by Lekha Alaparthi

This happened right in the middle of the mall time after school. When we were all tired from walking around and causing a ruckus in the mall, the Brookstone massage chairs provided relaxation after our clearly rough days of preteen/teen life. Didn’t get one of the few massage chairs at Brookstone? Don’t worry, there were also many random massage chair stations around the mall where we could be found catching up on gossip.

MALL FOOD (Specifically, Sarku, Pretzel Maker, Cinnabon, and Dippin’ Dots)

I have to say, this was my favorite part of the day. It is my personal opinion that a mall isn’t even really a legit mall until it has these four food items. Although the Dippin’ Dots craze has subsided (it is now reduced to just one machine at the mall – sadness), it represented a big part of the mall experience as kids. Catching up on our days in the food court after getting our own food was a time that many of us will not forget. So many memories spent in those smelly food courts exchanging secrets and gossip. And to finish, Pretzel Maker lemonade came in clutch to quench the thirst of walking circles around the mall.

You spent an unnecessary amount of time at Target reading the funny birthday cards 

Whether this was with your friends, or while waiting for your parents to do their shopping, the birthday card aisle at Target was always reliable for a good laugh. Reading through every single one takes at least 45 minutes, and when you start, you can’t stop.

Playing with merchandise in electronics stores but not buying anything 

Let’s face it. None of our parents were sending us to the mall with $100+ dollars to buy anything fancy or electronic. That’s exactly why we would stop at each store, like Verizon, Best Buy and AT&T, to play games on consoles and check out the new phones before bouncing out when someone actually tried to sell you something. Nowadays the new younger mall hooligans are lucky enough to have a Apple stores to play with new electronic devices.

You messed around with the annoying salesperson who flew helicopters over your heads 

“NO, I do NOT want to buy your stupid helicopter. Buy yup, I do want to play with it for a little while.” That was our thought process in dealing with the salespersons who would hover their Rovers over our heads to entice us to come over.

Let me tell you annoying salesmen, hovering a piece of plastic over kids’ heads and yelling at them to come over to your stand is  ineffective and annoying. Nonetheless, messing with these people and pretending we were thinking about buying one was fun while it lasted.

Taking photos that we definitely regret today in the photo booth

No comment on these. The endless photos we took must be burned and never brought back into the light of day.

You wasted away precious quarters in the mall arcade while attempting to win impossible games

The allure of winning an iPod or a new CD player was too much for us to resist. Hours are still spent by preteens attempting to somehow miraculously grab the prize box and be the one person who wins the game. Not to crush anyone’s hopes, but I’m practically positive these games were made to be impossible.

Last but not least…Abercrombie 

Need I say anything more? Abercrombie was THE place to shop in middle school and early high school. Hours were spent shopping in the overpriced store, while protecting your nostrils from the excessive cologne, just to find the perfect shirt or bottoms.

If the Trumbull Mall was a cornerstone of your childhood and shameful pre-teen years, there’s no doubt you miss it.