Before I moved back to Georgia, I decided to visit the Asian supermarket with my sister. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find an entire aisle of nothing but “noodle,” but it took more than a few minutes to locate the specific noodle I needed to make Korean Jap Chae. I’m used to being the only American in the crowd, but I’m pretty sure all eyes were on those two blonde girls who’d been picking up all the noodle. We looked down every aisle and found some pretty strange looking foods (and other items), but came out with what we needed, plus some instant coffee. I’m pretty sure the Asian supermarket is the only place you can buy instant coffee that has the sugar and powdered creamer already mixed in the packet.
This morning I had another ethnic shopping experience right here in Smalltown. While looking for contact lens solution in Fred’s (which they don’t sell, by the way), I came across a pack of mint-colored plastic rollers that looked enticing. I continued to the next aisle, rollers in hand but still no contact solution, and almost skipped over what I call the “black people hair stuff.” But what if the contact lens solution had somehow been misplaced? Then another thought occurred to me -- what kind of hair rollers do black people use? Imagine my surprise when I found the exact same rollers I had in my hand, except that these were solid black and available in multiple sizes. I checked the price, and would you believe that they cost half as much? I inspected both packages, but the only difference I could find was the color.
Conair Rollers, 10-pack: $2.35
Black Aisle Generic Rollers, 10-pack: $1
I picked up a ten-pack of the black variety, which I believe will look quite sophisticated in my blonde mane while Glenn Miller plays on my record player. I proudly marched the green rollers back over to the “white people hair stuff,” then used the dollar I saved to buy an enormous cup of sweet tea from McDonald’s.
This post is dedicated to the dark side of America -- the side that gives us Jap Chae noodle, good instant coffee, and cheap hair rollers. Thank you.
This morning I had another ethnic shopping experience right here in Smalltown. While looking for contact lens solution in Fred’s (which they don’t sell, by the way), I came across a pack of mint-colored plastic rollers that looked enticing. I continued to the next aisle, rollers in hand but still no contact solution, and almost skipped over what I call the “black people hair stuff.” But what if the contact lens solution had somehow been misplaced? Then another thought occurred to me -- what kind of hair rollers do black people use? Imagine my surprise when I found the exact same rollers I had in my hand, except that these were solid black and available in multiple sizes. I checked the price, and would you believe that they cost half as much? I inspected both packages, but the only difference I could find was the color.
Conair Rollers, 10-pack: $2.35
Black Aisle Generic Rollers, 10-pack: $1
I picked up a ten-pack of the black variety, which I believe will look quite sophisticated in my blonde mane while Glenn Miller plays on my record player. I proudly marched the green rollers back over to the “white people hair stuff,” then used the dollar I saved to buy an enormous cup of sweet tea from McDonald’s.
This post is dedicated to the dark side of America -- the side that gives us Jap Chae noodle, good instant coffee, and cheap hair rollers. Thank you.
Becca, you keep me so entertained! :)
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