Two months after the Westfield Galleria in Roseville closed from a devastating fire, shoppers were again forced to evacuate Monday. This time, choral singers are to blame.
Read more:
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/21/3272408/choir-flash-mob-packs-mall-forces.html#ixzz18lSSdo3ZAnd so developed our planned experience to join in the "random act of culture" at the local shopping mall.
We had arranged to meet some friends at the "event," and then have dinner. When the fire marshals started evacuating the mall 15 minutes or so before the scheduled sing, we actually were a little relieved. The estimate was that there were 5,000 people who showed up, and it was pretty darn crowded and a little scary.
We managed to find our friends--a minor miracle, but thank you to my daughter's sharp eye which spotted them through the madding crowd (well, actually it wasn't really all that madding, I just wanted to use that phrase). We quickly assessed the situation and decided that trying to get to our cars and get out of the parking lot was probably a two hour proposition at that point, so we slipped into the rather pricey Italian restaurant on the periphery of the mall to have dinner. Quite a few others had the same idea, so there was a wait of almost 90 minutes . . . but we commandeered a table in the bar and enjoyed a glass of wine until at last the dining room table opened up. We closed the place down about 9:30 and by then had no trouble getting out of the parking lot . . . though a little trouble getting to our car, since we had to walk all the way around the mall. Ah well, an interesting last Monday in Advent diversion.
