* The man who wrote a book about going on a pilgramage to Mecca and my friend who went to the 1992 UN gathering about women in Beijing had one identical reaction to their experiences: shock at how much shopping there was. Both places, Mecca and the conference were set up for lots of shopping and people did lots of shopping. People that the man and my friend were with did lots of shopping and both of them were shocked at that.

It's crowd control, for one thing. You call all these people together, and what are they to do when they aren't doing the main events. Shopping fills the time.