Jamie Feldman

Hi, this is Jamie from Deadheads. This podcast is meant to be listened to in order. So if you would like a better listening experience, make like Julie Andrews and start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start.

Hi, this is Jamie from Deadheads. This podcast is meant to be listened to in order. So if you would like a better listening experience, make like Julie Andrews and start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start.

And we learned that our overlords are quite dull.

And we learned that our overlords are quite dull.

This week, we'll take a few trips down Memory Lane, up the Garden State Parkway, and across Queens Boulevard to visit not the closest, but the very best TJ Maxx. Growing up in my family, there were two seasons, pool season and mall season. Every Saturday during mall season, aka winter, we'd sit in traffic... trek over multiple bridges from Queens just to go to the mall in New Jersey.

This week, we'll take a few trips down Memory Lane, up the Garden State Parkway, and across Queens Boulevard to visit not the closest, but the very best TJ Maxx. Growing up in my family, there were two seasons, pool season and mall season. Every Saturday during mall season, aka winter, we'd sit in traffic... trek over multiple bridges from Queens just to go to the mall in New Jersey.

When's the last time you were at this mall?

When's the last time you were at this mall?

Well, actually, we were driving from Queens to New Jersey just to spend time with my Nana at the mall.

Well, actually, we were driving from Queens to New Jersey just to spend time with my Nana at the mall.

Back when she could walk more easily, her favorite place to walk was here, in the mall. What's the first word I ever read? Macy's. Why do you think that was my first word that I read? Because we were always... In the mall? Always. That's all we did. Why did we come here every week? Because it was an activity.

Back when she could walk more easily, her favorite place to walk was here, in the mall. What's the first word I ever read? Macy's. Why do you think that was my first word that I read? Because we were always... In the mall? Always. That's all we did. Why did we come here every week? Because it was an activity.

Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think that coming here all the time made me a shopper? I don't know. Dom is nodding.

Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think that coming here all the time made me a shopper? I don't know. Dom is nodding.

Like, maybe if you brought me to museums every weekend, I would... Do what? Maybe if you brought me to the museum every weekend... Maybe I became a more... More of an academic. Yeah. Instead, I just like stuff. Okay, maybe I was putting them on the spot. But this mall was the backdrop for my childhood.

Like, maybe if you brought me to museums every weekend, I would... Do what? Maybe if you brought me to the museum every weekend... Maybe I became a more... More of an academic. Yeah. Instead, I just like stuff. Okay, maybe I was putting them on the spot. But this mall was the backdrop for my childhood.

We were three generations of women, only each other to hold onto, searching for a way to spend time together, something that could distract us from our differences. My earliest memories, the good ones anyway, mostly exist under the fluorescent lights of the food court. I remember this one year after eight weeks at summer camp. I was in the woods, communing with nature.

We were three generations of women, only each other to hold onto, searching for a way to spend time together, something that could distract us from our differences. My earliest memories, the good ones anyway, mostly exist under the fluorescent lights of the food court. I remember this one year after eight weeks at summer camp. I was in the woods, communing with nature.

There were no stores or internet or phone for miles. My mom picked me up and asked what I wanted to do first. Smell the mall, I said. I am not exaggerating. This was home to me.

There were no stores or internet or phone for miles. My mom picked me up and asked what I wanted to do first. Smell the mall, I said. I am not exaggerating. This was home to me.