squad log 12: 5-15-2025
We took a week off due to an instigator eye injury but we were back to flying and Austin was in a heat advisory, and even with water bottles and slower more modest walks… meeting up in the city for an urban adventure wasn't in the cards. We decided to be mall rats for the day, and it was quite the adventure!
We started slowly by lounging around the entrance waiting for the whole squad to arrive — there was a homeschool prom coming up and a couple of us wanted to shop for shoes together.
We set out to find some of the old time favorites as we all talked about how long it had been since we were in a mall. Well, most of us! Surprisingly, there was vibrant energy in the mall for a Thursday morning, and it was nice to get out of the heat.
We perused stores, bought a thing or two and talked a LOT about the items for sale, trends, and got a little silly before we realized we needed to get some lunch, so we headed to the food court to either buy food or eat what we brought.
Lunches are always kind of a slow part of our day. We get to know one another during this time by sharing food, talking about our experiences and just making room for us all. Sometimes we break up into small groups but there is always some thread that pulls us all back together like a desire for ice cream!
We weren’t sure we could spend a whole day inside a mall, but things started to feel fun as we wrapped up a Krabby Patty taste challenge and set off to hunt for fine evening gowns to try on, just for fun! We got side tracked a couple of times by very large department stores…
A quick game of (almost) silent hide and seek in the furniture department of Macy’s presented us with an opportunity to engage with a worker who said the squad was not allowed to be there and asked all the young people to leave and never return. Yes.
As the worker turned around to see our squad instigator standing with everyone's backpacks at the edge of the department they began to politely exchange words.
As the instigator asked some questions, the worker began to share so many anti-child assumptions like she thought they were skipping school and that they were “unruly” for playing in a store. (There was definitely light
Our instigator reminded them that they were allowed to be in the mall, and were not disrespecting property or people. Just a few giggles and ducking behind couches. Had it been a group of adults having a little fun, they wouldn’t have said such a thing.
This reminded us why we choose to fly with a squad. Adults assume all kids should be in school and when they aren’t, they MUST be doing something wrong.
We continued on our ball gown quest and had a lot of fun getting all dressed up and taking pictures while We headed back up to a Gelato bar we had seen near the food court and all came together to top our day off with a squad treat. Before we knew it, the day was over and time to say goodbye so we made our way to the pick-up point.
