26 January 2008

The World is Flat!

This story is one of those that I never would have believed if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. It really typifies the name of my blog. This week my translator Chimgee took me to one of her favorite little shoe stores. Like many shops around here, you would never know it existed unless someone showed it to you. Chimgee claimed they were selling hand towels with the word "Texas" on them. My curiosity sufficiently aroused, I went with her to see what she was talking about. To my complete and utter amazement, I found they were selling Texas A&M 12th Man towels from last November's A&M vs. Texas football game. The nice couple who run the shop graciously agreed for me to take their picture:


All I can say is, this is one of the oddities that results from the increasingly global import/export business. I asked the couple where they got the towels, and all they knew was that they got them from someone in UB. I then explained that Texas A&M was my university, and that I knew these towels. (In fact, I even brought my personal 12th Man towel from home, and it's sitting here on my bookshelf!) Since they assumed they were nothing more than hand towels, I entertained them by explaining their true purpose. I even twirled one over my head to demonstrate. They got a good laugh out of that.


It's one thing to see American sports logos on shirts, hats, etc., but these towels??! As bizarre as this story is, I guess it's not totally uncommon in this "globalizing" world. I would recommend a good book called "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman, if you're interested in more examples of how small our world is becoming. Oh, and - Gig 'em!!

3 comments:

Steven and Amanda said...

When I was in Moscow in 1989, we were bombarded by a group of street kids trying to sell us tourists some maps or other trinkets. One of the guys had a round button pinned to his shirt (like a political campaign button). What did it say?

"I [heart] Waxahachie"

Go figure.

Amanda C. said...

Wow, amazing! Dad told me about this today and I had to come see it on your blog. That is just craziness!! So does that mean the cold has let up, or was it just one of those things that you had to see, regardless of the weather?! Hope you're doing well-- we're all good, just BUSY as always!!! Love you!!

Ravi said...

Though a faithful Longhorn, I must admit that A&M is one of the strongest US sports brands. In India there were stores that had very few American gadgets, but one was an A&M hat. If you give me Chimgee's address I'll send her some Longhorn stuff.:)

BTW, Friedman also wrote The Lexus and the Olive Tree, another good read on globalization.