The fall of the mall?

Dear Heloise:

I’m wondering how your readers feel about shopping malls? When I was a kid, I loved spending time at the mall with my friends; some malls had carousels, iceskating rinks and movie theaters, and they all had wonderful food courts with delicious choices of eats. But now so many malls are going out of business.

In San Antonio, we still have malls that are doing well, but off-price stores and shopping online are gaining in popularity.

Will your readers always go to the mall? Do you like the energy there? The service? The people? It was convenient to have all the big stores under one roof, and years ago, I used to walk in the mall for exercise. That was fun.

The salespeople in the kiosks outside of the stores can be pretty pushy, but I’ve learned to just say, “No, thank you.”

Is the shopping mall becoming a thing of the past? Hopefully not!

— Jana B., Helotes, Texas

Readers, what do you say about the shopping mall? I’ve done many book signings in many malls over the years — a great place to come together!

— Heloise Dear Heloise:

My daughter gave me two beautiful scented candle jars (cinnamon and vanilla). Most of the wick and wax is almost used. The jars are beautiful, and I wish to keep them. How can I safely remove the remaining wax?

in Florida — Mom

What a lovely daughter! And kudos for wanting to repurpose the jars. Tuck the jars in the freezer for about an hour. Carefully place a table knife at the edge of the wax and wiggle it gently. The wax should pop off!

— Heloise Dear Heloise:

I’m sure there are a lot of talented folks who design containers, so it has always amazed me that they fail to recognize that people who wear glasses usually don’t wear them in the shower.

Shampoo and conditioner bottles are ordinarily the same size. How about a giant “S” and “C” printed on the bottles?

— Marian L., Omaha, Neb. Dear Heloise:

While my kids (ages 8 and 10) are out of school for the summer, I am having them read for an hour per day. I set a goal for them to find one word they are unfamiliar with. I challenge them to learn the meaning of the word, and then the context the word was used in.

Then the next day, we talk about yesterday’s word, and set upon the task of finding a new word to learn!

We are having fun reading, learning and sharing!

— Mary H. in Pittsburgh Dear Heloise:

Why is it that in school, teachers tell you, “Keep your eyes on your own paper” and “No talking,” and then when you get out in the real world, people tell you, “Network!” “Meet and greet!” and “If you want to be like this person, do what he does!”?

A paradox indeed!

— Glenn C. in New York