Crowded!

Times Square, couple weekends before Christmas at Toys R US. - zero sign of recession. Never been in a more crowded place in my life! It was just a mob of people shuffling in a clockwise manner. Everyone shouting "excuse me!" even though there was no place to get out of he way. Zero spirit of giving and joy. Ok, maybe it wasn't the most crowded... couple years ago, we went to see Kobayashi on Fourth of July. Almost died. People were panicking and it was like 95˚ with NY humidity. Shopping is so much more tiring than running. It's all the standing around in one place, fighting the people, and all the brain work that goes into deciding what you should get/don't get. My friends and family actually don't give gifts to each other... birthday, hoidays, etc... been  pretty much like that for the past 10 years or so? How strange...