The security guard who just waved me through at Valley View Mall

I was poking around the old Valley View Mall in La Mesa last spring, and this older security guard caught me near the blocked-off escalator. Instead of kicking me out, he just asked if I remembered the arcade that used to be there on the second floor. He pointed to a faded spot on the carpet where they had that giant claw machine, and told me he used to bring his kid there every Saturday in the late 90s. We stood there for maybe 10 minutes, just talking about how the whole place smelled like popcorn and carpet cleaner back then. He even showed me a photo on his phone of the food court in 1998. Has anyone else run into a guard or employee who was cool about letting you stay?

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leo1079h ago

The smell thing is funny, because I remember it more like stale Cinnabon and wet tile from the fountain they had downstairs. That claw machine was legendary though, my cousin swore it was rigged and he poured like twenty bucks into it one afternoon. I think the guard was just lonely, he probably didn't get too many people stopping to ask about the old days. Nice that he had that photo, the 90s food court was something else with all the neon and the plastic plants.