The back of their jackets say FORD in big letters. If my wife knew that I'd been to the Mall of America and didn't get her a souvenir, she'd be disappointed. Engineers at Ford, both men were done with the day's business in Minneapolis but had three hours to kill before their flight. The locals directed them immediately to the mall. I don't know that shopping necessarily defines Americans, but frivolous shopping certainly does.
Younger people are frivolous because of peer pressure.
Continuing the trail of souvenir shops, I was attracted by the internationalist theme of a small place that sells stuff emblazoned with almost every nation's national colors or flag. Inevitably, many converge on Alamo Flags to check whether their country's colors are represented. Although just 17, she has worked after school at Alamo for two years, which makes her the mall's demographic expert. Asian colors are big sellers, but Western Europe is still bigger. And the east African nation of Eritrea, along with the southeast Asian nations of Laos and Cambodia, draw surprisingly numerous visitors.