Crime at the Galleria

Scottieholics! Salutations! Well, this entry may stick out due to myself not being a news follower. I do not watch or read the news due to its negativity. I cannot see how one can be positive and upbeat from watching the news. Living here in the St. Louis area, the Metro Link and Galleria situation has caught my ear considering I'm a Metro Link rider. I've read in a report somewhere that the Galleria has been very anti-Metro Link considering they made them more accessible than they have ever been in a long time, especially to violence and theft. Now, I'm going to drop in my two cents. I will not be surprised if this entry will be overlooked because of their baseball park sized egos.

I recall in the early 2000s Bi-State Development Agency announced they were expanding their lines out to Shrewsberry, Missouri (a city in St. Louis county). Considering the expansion, it opens the door to more accessibility to Washington University, the Clayton Central Business District and of course, the Galleria. With that being said and done, the Galleria had ample time to adjust their books and look into beefing up their security prior to August of 2006. Here it is two years later, they're crying out to every media outlet because youths are causing a major disturbance and looking for some sympathy.

They need to shut their pieholes and start putting their money where their mouths are by beefing up the security. Considering they are more accessible, they're thinking they are invincible and immune to crime. Wow, that's a groovy thought I can fully embrace (yes, that was sarcasm). Being more accessible will always attract the minds of criminals. It has always been like that since the time of man. They have tested the waters and realized they can get with any inhumane act known to man. Yes, it is sad and unfortunate. The police will always have their hands full and try their damnest to make sure everyone can sleep soundly at night.

The Galleria needs to do themselves a favor as well as the police and every uniformed guard who watches the Metro Link station 500 yards away. I know it is harder than anyone can say and/or type (in my case). Push the egos aside or risk becoming an after thought as the St. Louis Centre has become. Stop pissing on Metro. That type of illogical decision will encourage every criminal to hit you up more and more. It will encourage less and less people to come to your place to do business. In a group of not-so-bright people, there's always an intelligent person to give that group insight and fortitude. I will not be surprised in the Galleria's scenario that intelligent person was shushed and/or pushed out of the door due to corporate politics.

From what I read in a report, the only thing the Galleria has done was put a "Parental Guidance Required" policy in place back in April of 2007. The policy prohibits anyone under the age of seventeen from entering the mall after 3 p.m. on weekends without an adult chaperone. That is an extremely weak leg to stand on. How about a policy such as "no one under the age of 18 is permitted without parental guidance" since the majority of the crimes were committed by youth? Granted it does kill the idea of many good youths who want to go into the mall and socialize with their friends. I can relate into that aspect considering I was a semi-quasi-mall rat.

But it is a start. Also, to go back to what I mentioned throughout this editorial tirade. Push the ballpark sized egos aside and beef up the security and rules or let Father Time crush your egos, your jobs, and leave the Galleria to rot in its own eternal Hell built by those egotisitcal dopes better known as corporate suits. Until the Galleria gets the picture and remove the kinks in its armor, I am boycotting the Galleria. If many of you Scottieholics are from the St. Louis area, I suggest you do the same. In the meantime, arrivederci and Godspeed!