DAILY DIRT: Back in the day, was there anything better than a trip to the mall?

I wonder how many of us once went to a mall to buy Crocs? … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 515 of The Daily Dirt.

1. A few days ago I saw an article about “30 Things Boomers Think Are Still Cool.”

Being a Boomer myself — in fact, a proud Boomer! — I found a few of the items caused me to do some deep thinking. I picked out some medal-worthy selections:

Gold medal: Malls. I know, I know you can buy or return everything online and even have them delivered to your doorstep. But I miss going to the mall. A quality mall was always like a home away from home. Ahhh … the good ole days, when a road trip to a mall in another town was like a mini-vacation.

Silver medal: Landlines. For the very young and/or uninitiated, these were the phones with jacks plugged into the wall. Sure, you now carry around your cell phone everywhere you go, but I still find myself reaching for the old landline on occasion. And there are times I swear I hear a ring … that isn’t there.

Bronze medal: Crocs. Originally created/designed to be boating shoes, Crocs debuted in 2002 and fast became popular across America, especially with my age group — and I’m not sure why. Sure, they’re easy to slip on, and yes, they’re comfortable (from what I understand), but has there ever been an uglier form of footwear?

Honorable mention: Phone books, shag carpets. Our culture lost a lot when those massive phone books began disappearing. And shag carpeting? A basement is not a true basement without shag carpeting.

2. I think all parents have felt like this some days: If in a bind, the quokkas toss their babies to predators so they can escape.

A quokka is a “stocky herbivorous marsupial (Setonix brachyurus of the family Macropodidae) of southwestern Australia that has a short tail.”

For the record, I may have felt like that some days, but at last count, we still have all four of our kids. (At least for now … )

3. Bad food of the week: By one way of ranking, the “most hated food” in America is the olive.

That’s according to zippia.com, which reported olives are the most hated food in 13 states. A close second are anchovies, which were No. 1 in 12 states.

Other foods ranking high (or low, depending on your point of view) were beets, turkey bacon, bologna, sushi, carrots and pickles.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — For the record, I have never eaten olives, anchovies, sushi or (knowingly) a pickle. And I have no plans to start anytime soon.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. I really can’t believe Steve doesn’t own a pair of crocs.