fbpx

91传媒

Two Hours with Everything in the World

As I wandered through the bustling waves of humanity at Costco, I thought of an article I read recently on a retail ecosystem that has gone in the other direction: shopping malls.
[additional-authors]
November 15, 2025
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

There鈥檚 no efficient way to describe a visit to the giant superstore Costco except to say it鈥檚 a giant superstore.

But adjectives like 鈥済iant鈥 and 鈥渟uper鈥 feel lame when trying to convey the sensation of seeing under one roof an eyeglass prescription center, a bakery, a full assortment of apparel, appliances, watches, tires, flat screen TVs, any grocery item you鈥檇 like, smart phones, jewelry, pool tables, lawn mowers, mattresses, beauty products, fresh produce, a pharmacy, hot tubs, generators, toys, coffins (yes), new bathrooms and kitchens, and did I mention the kosher chicken?

I鈥檓 here visiting family in Montreal, and my sister is the Costco queen. Doing a Costco run with her is a special treat. I feel like an anthropologist working for Discovery Channel. As I follow her in her natural habitat, while she buzzes efficiently from one section to another, I get to observe this modern-day coliseum of capitalism.

It’s true that when I think of a charming boutique downtown or a small hardware store where you know the owner鈥檚 name, a sprawling Costco feels almost dystopian, humanity鈥檚 final surrender to the gods of convenience and abundance.

And yet, I was surprised to feel something quite different as I got in my 10,000 steps during my recent visit.

I felt humanity.

This sounds crazy obvious, but after the trauma of the COVID lockdowns, when stores and businesses of all sizes shut down and left us physically isolated, I no longer take the sight of humanity for granted, even if it鈥檚 only people going about their shopping business.

As I wandered through the bustling waves of humanity at Costco, I thought of an article I read recently on a retail ecosystem that has gone in the other direction: shopping malls.

鈥淚t鈥檚 true in life that someday everything must die. But the decay of this mall is driving me mad,鈥 Kelly Karivalis writes in The New York Times in a poignant and nostalgic piece titled, 鈥淒ying Shopping Malls Are the Roman Ruins of Our Civilization.鈥

Indeed, many shopping malls are dying, while a mini-city with everything in it is thriving.

The word 鈥渆verything鈥 ironically applies to both. If there鈥檚 a sense that you can get everything at Costco, there鈥檚 also a sense that since you can now get everything delivered to your home, why shlep to a mall?

Pick your everything.

I haven鈥檛 yet mentioned the capitalist aphrodisiac of low prices, which is surely an advantage for Costco if you don鈥檛 mind stocking up on a three-year supply of tomato paste.

But as a one-day anthropologist enthralled by the sight of so many people leaving their homes to commune in one place, I didn鈥檛 really care that something as prosaic as low prices was a motivating factor in this rendez-vous of humanity.

These days, I take my humanity wherever I can get it, especially if I get to bring back a kosher chicken to my mother.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.
  • 91传媒

Genocide Shmenocide

Since Israel evacuated Gaza in 2005, the Palestinian population has grown from 1.3 million to 2.1 million. In the West Bank, it has grown from 2.4 million to 3.4 million. If the Israelis were hellbent on committing genocide, it鈥檚 one of the most epic failures in military history.

The Obsession with Israel Is Becoming Creepy

The world鈥檚 fanatical fixation with a group that is less that 0.2 percent of the world鈥檚 population has crossed the boundaries of moral vocabulary and into creepiness.

What Will It Take?

An open revolt for 91传媒 rights and protections is going to have to come from Jews finally making demands and fighting back鈥攐r not at all.

Mamdani Needs to Pay a Price for Harming Jews

It鈥檇 be one thing if Mamdani were a lowly Israelophobe with a few hundred followers. But he鈥檚 not. He鈥檚 mayor of the city with the world鈥檚 largest 91传媒 population.

Three Dates to Dataland

I took three different dates, ages 6, 72 and 35, to see Dataland, the unusual digital art experience in downtown Los Angeles.

Hakol Shalom, All Is Shalom

This is the transcript of the speech Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson gave at the 2026 AJU Gala on May 19, 2026.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

  • 91传媒