Regarding 'Omaha Mall'

Back in Nebraska Saturday night, my heart sank when I saw the high-ranking subject trending on Twitter:

Omaha Mall

On an earlier trip back, a shooting spree in the city made national news. Could it have possbily have happened again? (Also: Had the word “Omaha” ever trended before on Twitter for any topic?).

Turns out the new “Omaha Mall” designation had to do with the very same mall, the Westroads on West Dodge. But in this case it was due to a guy whose every move causes a Twitter jolt: Justin Bieber.

The Bieb, who started his summer headlining concert tour in Hartford, had been in Omaha for a concert July 3 and was riding with his peeps to Westroads, which they only knew as the Omaha Mall. The phrase was catchy enough for one of the Bieber minions to begin chanting “Omaha Mall! Omaha Mall!” Then the anointed pop star of the moment chimed in as well: A freestyle rap was forming before our eyes.

I know all this because somebody was videotaping it all, just as someone videotapes every moment of the Bieb’s life. It had been uploaded and had been seen by hundreds of thousands, and finally this momentary singsong was a mainstream enough event to be trending on Twitter.

 But the tape didn’t stop there. Suddenly the entourage is walking through the store, not at the hippest store in the place (if there is such a place), but a JC Penney. (The shootings had occurred at the other end of the mall at a store called Van Mauer, which always reminded me of the last name of Linus and Lucy).

Bieber’s entourage was tall enough to serve double duty as bodyguards, and they formed a protective perimeter as he strolled through one of the departments, still chanting “Omaha Mall” and freestyling over it. The invasion of youth at the departmenent store founded in 1903 might have been cause for security intercept, Paul Blart style. But someone must have been hip to the fact that the biggest pop star in the world was coming to their establishment, so let them on their way.

It didn’t cause a stir right away. This isn’t the kind of place where you’d expect to see Justin Bieber or Justin Timberlake walking past the Orange Julius. One girl in a pony tail recognized him and tried to keep her cool.

Word of things like this tends to slip out, though, and pretty soon the video cuts to 20 young girls all shouting “Omaha Mall!” to contribute to the song in progress (they would have shouted anything he said).

It’s a crazy enough occurance for officials at Westroads to consider renaming their establishment Omaha Mall to cash in on the fleeting pop moment (lest it be adapted by the Crossroads or Shadow Lake Mall). But that has yet to happen.

For now there’s an in-the-studio remix of “Omaha Mall” that’s being swallowed up in a hurry as a free download, with additional lyrics about buying ‘sick shoes’ and ‘looking for some girls.’

Those seeking a back to school shopping anthem could do worse. And of course it beats another shooting.