As soon as we reached the top of the subway steps and emerged onto Canal St, we were aggressively approached by countless Asians whispering "Gucci, Gucci". They had no sense of personal space and didn't hesitate to lightly grab at my elbow in order to get my attention.
Canal Street, located in the Chinatown area of New York City, has a stretch of vendors who are selling all of the same things- wonderfully tacky ghetto jewelry, hideous belt buckles, Pashmina scarves, knock-off handbags, and what we were there for: knock-off sunglasses.
The need for 20+ vendors with an identical inventory is beyond me, and how they all manage to stay in business is even more astonishing. But they do somehow. And they were each desperate for our business, so they did their best to impress us with their "competitive" and "fair" prices.
Here is a sample conversation: (keep in mind that I am not trying to sound racist; I am simply quoting the Asian)
Caitlyn: How much are these?
Asian: Those 10 dollar (pointing to a wall of sunglasses with "D&G" and "Dior" tags)
Caitlyn: I'll give you 5 dollars
Asian: No, those 10. These 7. (pointing to a pile of reject glasses below the wall)
Caitlyn: I don't have 10. I'll give you 8?
Asian: No, no. Those 10. Those DIOR.
Asian: ....9 dollar...
Caitlyn: Deal!
A similar conversation followed this one, which resulted in my purchase of the amazing snake sunglasses. The Asian made it clear that they were "JUICE!" which I am pretty sure meant "Juicy Couture". I didn't care about what brand they were knocking off; they had snakes on them! I also ignored how completely ridiculous they looked on me. I never like how sunglasses look on me anyway- why be picky now? I did, however, take my mom's genuine advice and I purchased the darker pair. In fact, without the financial assistance of my mother (who insisted that I buy them for an outrageous $9), I would not own this new treasure.
Thanks, Ma.
Canal Street, located in the Chinatown area of New York City, has a stretch of vendors who are selling all of the same things- wonderfully tacky ghetto jewelry, hideous belt buckles, Pashmina scarves, knock-off handbags, and what we were there for: knock-off sunglasses.
The need for 20+ vendors with an identical inventory is beyond me, and how they all manage to stay in business is even more astonishing. But they do somehow. And they were each desperate for our business, so they did their best to impress us with their "competitive" and "fair" prices.
Here is a sample conversation: (keep in mind that I am not trying to sound racist; I am simply quoting the Asian)
Caitlyn: How much are these?
Asian: Those 10 dollar (pointing to a wall of sunglasses with "D&G" and "Dior" tags)
Caitlyn: I'll give you 5 dollars
Asian: No, those 10. These 7. (pointing to a pile of reject glasses below the wall)
Caitlyn: I don't have 10. I'll give you 8?
Asian: No, no. Those 10. Those DIOR.
Me: uh, no...they're not.
Asian: ....9 dollar...
Caitlyn: Deal!
A similar conversation followed this one, which resulted in my purchase of the amazing snake sunglasses. The Asian made it clear that they were "JUICE!" which I am pretty sure meant "Juicy Couture". I didn't care about what brand they were knocking off; they had snakes on them! I also ignored how completely ridiculous they looked on me. I never like how sunglasses look on me anyway- why be picky now? I did, however, take my mom's genuine advice and I purchased the darker pair. In fact, without the financial assistance of my mother (who insisted that I buy them for an outrageous $9), I would not own this new treasure.
Thanks, Ma.
