Hehehehe.. (sorry if I’ve offended folks…. but ya’ll know – of all people – I’m am the MOST equal of equal opportunists… , so just chilllll!!  :-) )

Anyhoots, here’s the rest of the sentence….

I Saw White People…. (LOADS of them) in Best Buy today!

Now, if ya’ll will recall with me – at approximately just about a year ago, I had written a post on my experiences at BB, entitled “Flippin’ the Foreigner Face Card.” My then entry provided you the “day in the life of a foreigner” in different shades here in Shanghai… pros/cons.. battles won/battles lost etc. by those who are:

a) ABC and look Chinese

b) ABC and don’t look Chinese

c) caucasian/white

(*You can guess which one is me. If ya’ll need a refresher on what I’m referring to, I highly suggest you click on the hyperlink above for a rather insightful -and comical- post.)

But TOOOOOODAYYYYYYYY, I hit up BB and upon entrance, I get the usual “Welcome” greeting in Mandarin (which sounds like them saying “good morning!”– this threw me off immensely when I had first landed in the ‘Hai.)… but one thing that jumped out at me, was a whollllle bunch of white faces in suits and polo shirts, with clipboards and charts in hand, stern looks etc. in small crowds with BB associates at various points throughout the 5-floor store; there were also wayyy more service attendants walking around the floor than usual; and I noticed that the majority of them now all have the dandy yellow name tag that reads, “I Speak English.”  Welllll I’ll be darned!  BB was being audited right in front of my eyes and ears!! Upon my browsing, I even overheard a foreign auditor demonstratively say to a local employee, “The set up looks great! It should be like this everyday… …EVERY—DAY!” Of course, the local employee smiled/nodded and replied, “Yes, it is my responsibility to oversee this area.”

Soooooo many thoughts!! In random order:

- Pshhhhh! All this corporate’ness.

- “West is Best” attitude was totally inferred…almost too pompously.

- The changes in this city’s operations in its overhaul preparation to host the 2010 World Expo: Taxis have stickers with a free call center number for those who are having trouble communicating to taxi drivers with their desired designation; this call center provides free translation services; when you call, you are prompted: “press 1 for German, press 2 for English” (at least that’s what it was when I used it once wayyy back last year)

- Mandatory security bag scans have returned in metro stations

- Now BB and western stores are feeling the smack down…

…..Let’s just see if this holds up……

. . don’t burn the day. .