The Connection Between Socks and DVDs
If you are a Westerner in Beijing, you will eventually be accosted by a street vendor downtown carrying a plastic bag wanting to sell you his/her goods. He usually wants to sell you DVDs. However if you say no, he/she is prepared to offer you ... socks!? This strange combination has puzzled me for some time. I had to prepare a logcal flow chart to explain it. It still seems like flawed logic to me. (It reminds me of a Simpsons episode when Homer pulls a can out of the cupboard which reads "Peanuts and bubble-gum. Together at last!")
posted by International Dave at 7:56 PM
1 Comments:
I have a theory that might explain this connection (though your chart is impressive). DVDs are obvious--they've got em cheap, Americans love movies. Socks, however, are also coveted by Americans in China, as I found out the hard way.
For my last trip to China I packed only new socks, still in the package, that I had recently purchased. On my first morning in Beijing, I was dismayed to discover that they were the wrong size, and much to small to wear.
No problem, I figured, I would just buy some larger ones.
It took the better part of a day to find socks that were big enough to accommodate my dogs. Most Chinese clerks would laugh when I asked for anything larger than medium. What I finally did find was a pair of black, wool, hiking socks at Timberland Outfitters near Wangfujing. I paid $16 US for them under the wide-eyed stares of every employee and several shoppers who couldn't resist the opportunity to witness the purchase of the largest socks they had ever seen. I wear a 10 1/2.
If only some of the DVD pushers had offered ME socks!
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