I hate being a stereotype, but I hate, hate, hate, shopping even more. An Ikea in Sydney Australia recognized that I'm not alone in my hatred of all things commerce and recently tested the greatest thing to happen to shopping since the introduction of smartphones. The MÄNLAND play area.
Tested for only four glorious days during the Father's Day weekend, the male-only play land was created so women could drop off their restless men for 30 minutes of fun while they shopped for Expedits and Orkuts. MÄNLAND had an Xbox 360, pinball game, football, free hot dogs and televised sporting events. It was Nirvana!
Women were given buzzers with 30 minute timers to remind them to pick up their husbands, boyfriends, fathers, brothers. I'm guessing there was a lot of pouting as men were led away from their new favorite place. My only beef is that it was male only, I know plenty of women who hate shopping as much as I do and they love Halo. [News.com.au via The Daily What]