Culture is an interesting and often very amusing thing. I personally love immersing myself in and engaging with other cultures, as I often learn something pretty cool.
That said, dominant culture appears to be a numbers game.
What am I blathering about you might be wondering? Well, in our part of the PNW we have had a mass influx migration that kicked into overdrive during the Plague. Our part of the world was a very rural place, full of culture that evolved from independent, hardworking folks, think loggers, farmers, miners, mill workers, hippies, etc. Many of the folks who made up the influx were what I refer to as political refugees from the Golden State.
The resulting cultural convergence has been all the adjectives at times. For instance, one of the things that brings me the most mirth is that many of the Imports believe they are conservative. They announce this belief through masses of bumper stickers and very assertive Facebook posts, but then they ask you questions like, Where do we go to register our guns? (Actual question I was asked).
Me, I don't care where you are from. I care about a person's conduct. That said, when the numbers are greater than the area has infrastructure to handle things get, well, interesting.
I won't go into the roads, housing, and school-crowding issues, this post is more about another aspect of a mass of people plunking themselves down into another culture, and that is the bringing of their culture with them.
Californians love themselves some Trader Joes.
I mean, I sorta get it, maybe not on a devoted cultist level, but Trader Joes has pretty excellent foodstuffs and very pocketbook friendly prices. On a couple of my visits to Cali I enjoyed a trip or two there to get organic baby carrots and hummus to snack on while I sketched on the beach in San Diego. When you travel it's cool to embrace the local vibe.
But, two weeks ago, a Trader Joes opened its doors in our part of the world, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho no less!
I never go to a store until after the grand opening fervor wears off, and I figured two weeks should be good enough for it not to be a madhouse (I was massively wrong), but as I had to go once a month grocery shopping yesterday, my mischievous self thought it might be fun to take the Crotchety Hawaiian into Trader Joes.
For science.
When we arrived at the location that was across from one of our absolute favorite stores many years ago (I miss you Liquidation World), we noticed the parking lot was a madhouse.
The hub's countenance was already diminished at the prospect of wading through the Imports, but I was so enthusiastic about the sight-seeing safari that he cracked a smile as he got out of the car.
We then entered in the Cali inner grocery store sanctum.
Like In-And-Out Burger, Trader Joes calls to them. The swarm in that not at all large store was unlike anything I have every witnessed, least of all in our laid back part of the PNW. The shoppers were darting about snatching blueberry compote covered chevre and sprouted grain bread off the shelves with a culturally coordinated intent that I didn't understand or know how to navigate. I remember one time in Mexico that my brain got to hurting so bad from trying to translate all the words all at once, and in Trader Joes I got a similar pain in my chest as I tried to navigate through the morass.
The thing is, I appreciate the store and the people who love it, but holy craziness!
Through it all though, as I wound my cart through the puffed chickpea-seeking piranhas, I just had to look up and spy The Great Disapprover. The look on my Hawaiian's face as he stood in the middle of the trendy consumption fracas gave me the strength to push on.
After checking out with the super sweet kid at the check stand, we both escaped into the free air. Change is an ever-constant, and even though I love my culture, I also accept that its evolving. I enjoy being able to pick up organic coconut milk at a nice price, but at the same time I am a bit morose for that which we are losing. My culture is pretty great. I mean, like all cultures it has its pros and cons, but overall there is a beauty about PNW culture that I am sad to see being swallowed up by the trendy, consumer-driven, in the know culture of all our new arrivals.
We definitely live in an interesting time!
