Indian wedding in TorontoI went to the Max Azria store in the mall here in Mississauga, and found a bottle of Bon Chic. I asked the shop assistant what were its notes. This Indian shop assistant clearly didn't know, but stalled for time waiting for another assistant to finish with a customer. While waiting, I asked her about the bottle sizes, since there was a tiny one in a gift package. Again, she didn't know.
So I just took matters in my own hands, and took out the small bottle to see the contents underneath. No information there. So I turned the box upside down, and found what I needed. The bottle was the same size as the bottle on sale at Sephora.
I put the small bottle on the stand, not bothering to replace it in the box, and left the store.
The Mississauga Mall, that is being renovated with a plethora of high-end stores, is filled with such Indian and Chinese shop assistants, who have very little idea about the fashion, perfume and style the stores are selling. I think they are hired to "represent" the large influx of Chinese and Indians in the city, in the past couple of decades. Now, rather than being "new" immigrants, they are merely immigrants. They have infiltrated many institutions in the city, including important, governmental ones, and these leaders have much say about how their "people" are represented in the city.
I do see a large number of Indians and Chinese walking the mall's hallways. But, I don't think they are the real shoppers. From the various news and magazine articles I could find on the mall, many of the patrons are from nearby towns, of mostly wealthy white residents. The mall was refurbished and renovated to attract such high-end clientele.
The only reason I talked to this BCBG representative was because she was standing so close to the merchandise, I thought she might have found a way to give me the information I wanted. Usually, I bypass these multi-culti attendants, or I look for a white attendant. If the white attendant doesn't have all the information, she usually has something useful to say.
Non-whites in Canada are changing the culture if only by not preserving it (destroying it and replacing it with their own cultures is a well-documented phenomenon).
A non-white shop assistant who has no clue about BCBG, and doesn't understand the volume measurements of a perfume bottle, and cannot tell the difference between Eau de Parfum and Eau de Toilette, simply has a slot that has opened up for her, and her group, to press in further and replace our culture with her own culture and cultural items.
This new wave of immigrants looks like it's well-integrated, without any accent, and with all the superficial adaptations, but the serious things like their ancestral culture are never forgotten. Chinese look like they've adapted well, with the women easily marrying white men. But, the home life of these white-men-marrying Chinese women will always be infused with their cultural background.
And now coffee.
I like Starbucks coffee, and will find it where ever I am, rather than buy something else. Right beside the bus depot (which takes me periodically to Toronto) is a small Starbucks. I went early one morning and asked for Pike. The coffee machines (both!) were empty, and I said I would wait (two seconds, as the sales girl told me). I waited for abut five minutes, which was fine. When the coffee was ready, it was so weak, I would have been better off going to some fast-food chain to get a cup. The "coffee maker" was an Indian women with a strong accent. She couldn't even make a Starbucks coffee (measure the water? what a concept!). I was going to get the manager to deal with this, but I had no time. I took a mental note of the woman, to report her later on.
These non-white immigrants, (first, second and even third, so clearly all generations of these immigrants) have come to an established, cultivated, civilized place, with an enviable culture. A good cup of coffee is easy to find, and beautiful perfumes are being continuously created. They showed up to take advantage of all this, but at the same time instilling their past (and abandoned) culture into the mix. Theirs is winning. And we are suffering because of that. How long before they destroy everything and we are left with replicas of the places they left behind?
It may be too late, but I will fight for my perfumes and my coffee.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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