I love NorthPark. The great restaurants, the big movie theater, the world-renown shops – people come from miles away just to shop there. They keep it meticulously clean, and the exotic indoor landscaping is lovingly cared for. I even love to exercise there. On any given morning, you are likely to find me and about 30 other people walking in circles inside the mall.
That’s what I was doing when I spotted the Armani Exchange window display near Dillard’s. In the front window is a giant heart – about 4 feet by 4 feet – made of bright red condoms.
Before you call me a prude, let me say I understand that sex sells – especially around Valentine’s Day. And before you quote me the statistics on the ravages of the AIDS epidemic, let me say that I believe in safe sex as a way to save people from HIV, unwanted pregnancy, and STDs. Condoms can save lives.
But I admit that condoms in the front window were a shock to me. At Christmastime, that area is used for the 12 days of Christmas children’s puppet show, and it’s just around the corner from the fountain kids love to watch. If Armani Exchange had been giving away free condoms with the purchase of red boxers inside the store, I wouldn’t have batted an eye. But it was the very large public display that dropped my jaw. I don’t know. Call me crazy. Everyone else just seemed to walk on by.
