HarryTime: An Incident at the Cache Valley Mall

Harry Caines contributes a weekly column to CacheValleyDaily.com. Harry is a resident of Logan and an alumnus of Utah State University. He can be reached via email at [email protected]. His column is a work of opinion, and does not reflect the views of Cache Valley Daily, the Cache Valley Media Group, or its employees.

In lieu of my usual polemics I would like to share an incident that happened to me and a friend at the Cache Valley Mall.

 

A dear friend wanted to take me out to lunch for my birthday. He would be out of town on my actual birthday, so we decided on this past Saturday for lunch. I do not want to use my friend’s name, so I will refer to him by a pseudonym that should adequately hide his identity. I will call him Skyler Miggs.

 

Skyler wanted to take me to the new Winger’s at the Cache Valley Mall. My previous experience at this Winger’s was bad. I went there with friends back in April to watch a basketball game and we were altogether ignored for 20 minutes whilst sitting at the bar. Not even one hello. We walked out.

 

But, Mr. Miggs was treating and I am a very forgiving man. Winger’s it would be.

 

The lunch was fine. Nothing amazing. We finished about 1:10 PM. Another friend was going to meet up with us at 1:30 in the parking lot and we three were going to travel together to Idaho to buy good beer and lottery tickets. I do that often. Perhaps you have read some of my previous columns where I discuss giving Idaho my money because Utah frowns upon my life choices.

 

Skyler suggested we walk through the mall to kill off the remaining 20 minutes. We did so. We pointed at the various stores and discussed the current state of retail shopping in America. Mr. Miggs told multiple stories about the mall’s history before I had moved to Utah in 2004. Riveting.

 

As Skyler went to use the bathroom, I stood at the intersection of the two hallways and took a video I planned on posting on Instagram. Many people that follow me on ‘Gram are from back East. I like sharing photographs and videos of my life out here with them back there.

 

And this is where things got weird.

 

A man came at me from the direction of the Kay Jewelers and confronted me. I still am unaware if this man was the manager of that business or of the mall entirely. He informed me that, for security reasons, taking pictures or videos of the mall was prohibited. He then rudely informed me that I could be sued for taking a video.

 

Whaaaaaaaa?

 

I was unaware of any prohibitions on picture taking. A simple explanation said to me respectfully would have sufficed. He could have said this:

 

“Excuse me, sir. The mall has a policy that disallows the taking of pictures or videos. Would you kindly delete that video?”

 

I would have acquiesced immediately, no matter how trifling I would have found the request. But he did not do that. He admonished me. Me and Skyler had just frequented the mall and gave them our business and this man spoke to me like I was a puppy that pooed on the rug.

 

In the nanosecond that I computed every possible reply to this shockingly rude and unnecessary demand, I gave serious thought to laying a boatload of my notorious South Philly “attytood” on him. I abstained. I simply said, “I will delete it.” I then placed my phone in my pocket and walked towards the front entrance quietly.

 

Mr. Miggs met me halfway to the front doors and I informed him that I was just scolded for taking a video in the mall. I was relaying the story to him as the front sliding doors opened and we were exiting the mall when someone behind us called for our attention. It was the mall security guard. He informed me that taking videos and photographs in the mall was prohibited and they could sue us for doing so.

 

BOOM!

 

Both of us lost it. As Mr. Miggs started asking him who he was to speak to us like that, I raised my rather loud voice to a high decibel. In my frothy indignation I informed the mall cop that my name is Harry Caines and this incident would be the subject of my next column.

 

And here it is!

 

Let it be known to the employees of the Cache Valley Mall and everyone else on Planet Earth that when you anger me, I will do what I tell you I will do.

 

At this point, I committed the one act in this incident that I regret. I told the mall cop to give a message to the manager who had sicced him on us after I already walked away from him. I cannot quote exactly what I said because CVD is a family-friendly newspaper.

 

I should not have done that. I was angry for being upbraided twice within a span of two minutes for an innocuous violation of this little-known policy. I was ignited to volatility by being stopped 12 inches and 3 seconds away from leaving the building. Neither man needed to be rude, and the second man could have allowed us to leave the mall, which was already happening. He stopped us because he felt it a duty to chide two adult men who were neither dangerous nor confrontational. Our backs were turned and we were leaving.

 

Why did I share this story? Because I often lament the lack of business vitality in Logan. I berate Cache Valley elected politicians for continuing to ignore this problem. Many Cache Valley Mall businesses are struggling. Stores in there close too frequently. The mall was nearly empty on the Saturday afternoon that this incident took place.

 

And the only action that two employees of that mall could find to be appropriate to a customer taking a video was to give a laughably feckless threat of a lawsuit for an act easily rectified with kinder words.

 

I have no intention of giving any business located in the Cache Valley Mall my money again. And I hope someone that reads this column on CVD, or through social networking, will share this story with people associated with the mall.

 

My plan is to share this column with Mayor Holly Daines, Logan City Council Members, and a few other select people with a concentrated interest in what happens to people that are treated poorly when spending money within the Logan city limits.

 

Maybe I will do more. Or, maybe I will just allow this column to speak for itself. And it is very much possible that this column will just fade away, forgotten and irrelevant…just like the Cache Valley Mall.

 

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11 Comments

  • Mo Al June 21, 2018 at 9:30 pm Reply

    I was in the mall a few months ago and some teenagers were doing a scavenger hunt it seemed. Like take a picture here and with this in this store and a security guard came and ts them they could be sued for taking pics because the logos were trademarked. I was appalled. Aren’t those logos all over things and I’m sure taken picture of by many people??! It made me furious. Those teenagers were doing a harmless activity and were made to feel like criminals.

  • Kent June 21, 2018 at 10:15 pm Reply

    Harry, your column struck a chord with me and reminded me of a dissonant chord I experienced about 12 years ago after moving here from southern CA at our local Sam’s Club. Upon retiring from UPS in California, the Teamster Union to which I belonged, presented me with a fine looking Teamster jacket. I was wearing this jacket one day in the local Sam’s Club as my brother was shopping there. While my brother shopped, I began talking to the sample lady that was sampling gum. There were not many people in the store and I chatted with this lady for about 5-10 minutes while waiting for my brother. As we were about to leave, someone (we didn’t know if he was an employee or not) asked us to wait for a few minutes. I needed to leave, but we waited. Soon, another manager lady came up to us and asked us to leave for solicitation. I guess they figured we were trying to unionize their store just because I was wearing a union jacket. Anyhow, we were already leaving when we were asked to wait so that they could kick us out. Your story made me recall my own experience, as it seems quite similar. Just as you have vowed not to shop at the Cache Valley Mall, I have kept my own vow to do the same for the past 12 years at our local Sam’s Club.

  • Se7en June 22, 2018 at 5:43 am Reply

    They were just mad because “Skyler” doesn’t know how to park worth a poop.

    Seriously though…what a pair of D nozzles. How may selfies and snapchats do you think get churned out inside the Mall when the teeny boppers are there?

  • Ron Baker June 22, 2018 at 10:04 am Reply

    I don’t always agree with you Harry, but this time I do. The question you don’t answer, is, do they have a sign posted anywhere about this no video/picture rule?

    The mall is out of business, they just don’t know it yet. And Wingers is as bad now as it was before. Who (at Wingers) in their right mind thought, “our restaurant failed once in this town at a stand alone location. Why don’t we move to a failing shopping mall and try again?!”

  • Henry June 22, 2018 at 2:39 pm Reply

    Wow what a petty article to make… Ive been to the mall plenty of times and seen posted at every entrance signs stating that pictures are not permitted in the mall. You may have think that because you are taking “harmless photos” that you are exempt however that is not the case. Businesses don’t have the time to weed through people taking video or photos to deem who may be causing security issues or even intellectual theft, hence they just avoid the issue all together by not permitting it. The mall like other businesses is private property and like others has the right to establish rules and enforce them. Just as you would react if someone came into your home and began taking pictures and video I contest you would have a similar reaction. Instead of throwing an adult sized tantrum maybe you should just acknowledge your mistake and move on. And I’m sure that businesses in cache valley would prefer not to have customers such as you anyways.

  • Yaaaassss June 22, 2018 at 7:20 pm Reply

    Where was security when a man ejaculated on a girl in the mall massage chairs? But Heaven forbid anybody take a video.

    Here’s the article if you want to know all about it.

    http://www.hjnews.com/allaccess/logan-man-on-his-way-to-prison-after-lewdness-case/article_a75eb8bc-0389-5862-97fb-758f39a97968.html

  • Dave L. June 22, 2018 at 8:59 pm Reply

    “We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:39).

  • Ttunac June 23, 2018 at 12:17 pm Reply

    Bring back the Ethan Tremblay headshot!

  • Volde June 24, 2018 at 8:36 am Reply

    You had me until you pulled the “do you know who I am?” card. Really? Get over yourself.

  • Kimmy June 26, 2018 at 10:31 pm Reply

    The businesses in the mall aren’t related to the mall itself. If you’re telling people to no longer patron the local mall, hundreds of people will lose their jobs due to lack of sales. Is the management of the mall really terrible? Yes. Do the workers in the store deserve to be impacted? No.

  • Dale Hellman December 4, 2018 at 11:50 am Reply

    As soon as he asked you to not take pictures then quit and be gone, oh hell no you get ass hurt and escalate the contact. Seems to me that everyone now days gets ass hurt over nothing, they think someone is trying to take away some rights. This freedom of speech, while a wonderful thing don’t give people the right to say and do any damn thing they want. Grow up people and quit the ass hurt boo hoo BS.

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