With the influx of USA chain stores like Pottery Barn, Victoria's Secret, and Anthropologie, suddenly the traditional Grey Cup weekend is being morphed into a USA Thanksgiving/shopping/love in. It's the signal for Christmas wreaths to be hung on the door and to light up the outside as if we all had shares in General Electric. Now I'm as guilty as the next one for poking my nose around these stores (exception Victoria's Secret - not too much secret about that store!) but even as I do, that Canadian voice inside protests the encroachment of USA influence on how we decorate, celebrate and entertain. Black Friday has now edged out Boxing Day as the day to find a good bargain.
I made the mistake of running an errand at the mall on said Black Friday. Christmas lyrics Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Men accompanied some of the nastiest, meanest looking shoppers you've ever seen. The parking lot was full of middle finger gesticulating drivers who had no place to park. It was to quote my favorite Chuck: the worst of times.
Which brings me to what I've been mulling about for a few days. If we are all pinning ideas we love and cooking recipes we find on Pinterest, where can I find true originality and uniqueness? Remember that terrible song we would hear on the radio when we were kids by Malvina Reynolds that went something like this "Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky-tack...there's a red one and a blue one...and they all look just the same."
While the world has become more accessible to each of us through the power of the internet and free trade agreements, our Canadian identity and culture have taken a mortal beating. A bandaid made in China seems to be the solution with the Nexen deal being approved yesterday.
Oh Canada, who's standing on guard for you?
2 comments:
It gives "going global' a whole new meaning.
I love being reminded of that song, "little boxes of ticky-tack." I wonder if this trend in Canada is more western Canada. (Although there was a Walmart in Nova Scotia);
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