Day 15 - My Kinda' Store (almost)

Since returning to China two weeks ago, I have been searching for a shirt that is the perfect mix of Chinese and American style. Because I can be a little picky at times (Pam knows what I'm talking about), finding the perfect style, color, and pattern has been difficult. To make matters worse, I am slightly larger than the average Chinese customer. Sure, they always coax me into their store with "Come, come... American size". Then they dig through all the nice shirts and pull out a t-shirt that has a gold horse embroidered across the chest and green buttons sewn on the shoulders! What gives?!?! I am not saying that they do not also have Nike t-shirts, NASCAR t-shirts, or even an Iowa State t-shirt with a cardinal on it (see below). BUT, I DON'T WANT A T-SHIRT!!! I want a nice shirt that is designed for the sub-tropical environment in which I am living. You know, the kind of shirt made out of some exotic material that wicks the sweat from my body and acts like portable an air conditioner.

Tonight I finally found the shop for me! As you can see from the pic above, the name translates to "Fat People's Shop", which is ironic, because the store is only five feet wide (seriously, look at the pic). I went in and within seconds I found the perfect shirt. It was the right style, color, pattern, and most importantly, it was the right size. I asked the shop keeper "how much?" and she typed 230 RMB ($29) then subtracted a 20% discount (because I'm special) and said "184". Realizing that 184 RMB was still over $20 ($23 to be exact), I frowned, pointed to the calculator and said "too high... lower" (pushing the palm of my hand towards the floor). She said "no... 184". I said "no... better price". Se shrugged her shoulders and said "184".

At this point, some of you may be saying "you've been looking for two weeks and have nothing to show for it. Just pay the money and walk away". Obviously you don’t know me. By this point, I am no longer worrying about the shirt... it's the principle that matters. I can walk two blocks and find the same shirt in a Chinese size and buy it for $6. My "American size" shirt doesn't use THAT MUCH more material! In addition, how much business can a "Fat People's" store do in China? There’s like 12 fat guys in all of China! Finally, NOBODY PAYS $23 FOR A SHIRT IN CHINA!!

I walked.