Globalization and its Contents

I'm not always as quick as Sydney or Ryan (my fellow teachers) to condemn the foreign investment in China. Sure, it's quite lopsided and favors the coastal cities with easy access to sea ports but little things can distract me from these big issues. Like a baby in a crib, show me something shiny or something goofy and I'll probably giggle and become a shopper at your store.

Yi Ja Yi or 1+1 Supermarket is from Zhongshan. I used to buy everything from pillows to peanuts at Yi Ja Yi while my bananas and oranges came fresh from the street markets. Now, with a Park n' Shop from Hong Kong opening at about the same distance as Yi Ja Yi, I've begun to re-evaluate my consumer discriminations.

Within the past 5 years or so Zhongshan and China have changed considerably. The night markets and street markets are still availbable for the budget shopper who wants inexpensive goods and fresh local produce. These markets are great for many things, but not that great for a blender or a DVD player or for Kellogg's Corn Flakes.

Filling this gap in consumer demand are an international blend of superstores which offer a wide range of products and where faulty products can be returned if not up to standard. Of these foreign giants, Carrefore is from France, Fu Mart, JustCo and Trust Mart are from Japan and Park n' Shop is from Hong Kong.

This is because Park n' Shop offers me flavors of home. They have spaghetti noodles and sauces, they have Post and Kellogg cereals (so i can start my day off right with Raisin Bran, AND lower my cholesterol!!!! Just kidding, I don't EVEN know what cholesterol is and I wouldn't worry about it if they didn't tell me to on the side of the box) and here's the kicker.... drum roll, Max.... TABASCO SAUCE. At $0.30 for a beer and $1.20 for TABASCO SAUCE... Yi Ja What?

So, with this discovery I've become a very happy man. Also, I feel unsatisfied like I gave in to a corporate machine, but I bought fruit from the mega store also... the last batch of market bananas went bad in about 2 days and were filled with flies. Gross. In economics they call this taste and preferences. I would prefer to shop at the markets or at Yi Ja Yi, but my tastes prefer clean bananas and fiery sauce made only on Avery Island, Louisiana.