Pronounce the Word "Sears"

Sears.  The Sears Catalogue.  The Sears Department Store.  I’ve made an appointment to visit Sears today to get my daughter an eye exam and a new pair of glasses.  Sears has an optometrist.  Sears has a package for children that would appear to be good value.  When we arrive, I realize she does not know how to pronounce the word: “Sears.” She refers to something like “Sayers” and then does so again before I cogitate that she means “Sears.”  In the moment I’m shocked and correct her as if she has mispronounced “Woolworth” or “Flintstone” or “Whopper.”  In parallel I consider the phonetic effort and understand.  And I ponder that Sears has never made much of an effort in China.

We find the bedding department and as advertised the eye care department is right along side.  I’m not sure if our appointment was registered properly but a nice woman who must be a peer, confirmed as much and told us the doctor would be right with us. We got talking in a way that I don’t remember often happens back home.  And when I inquired about how long the lenses would take to make, as we’d be heading back overseas I came to learn that she’d recently been on a trip to China.  And as I suppose I’ve come to expect, I was very glad to hear that she was surprised by what a wonderful time she had.  I certainly hadn’t expected though that she went to a small city of Baoji, which, China-guy though I imagine myself, I had to admit I couldn’t immediately place.  My wife confirmed that it was in Shanxi, west of Xian.  This woman had visited there to help distribute eyeglasses to less fortunate kids. 

Now we had plenty to talk about.  As always, I was very curious as to her first-time impressions.  They were fresh for she’d been there this year.  And I sensed that she’d felt compelled as many people are, to evangelize a bit, once back home: “China doesn’t suck.”  It was clearly completely different from what she’d been told to expect. She must have gotten snarky comments from some people saying the Chinese are rich now.  Why do they need your help?  I warmed to this and said that while four hundred and fifty million people had become something like middle class in a twenty-year period, which is a sui generis little achievement, there were another eight hundred million, who hadn’t. I nodded when she gently suggested that Chinese breakfasts were perhaps not to her liking. 

The Doctor was a very pleasant woman herself.  She also had lots of questions for me and for my daughter about what China was like.  She seemed incredulous when I clarified how long we and then I had been over there.  It made me feel a bit incredulous as well. 

We got some frames.  I let her my daughter start choosing them first, before asking about the price.  Once we’d started, I regretted this, but tried to steel myself.  The clerk who’d been to China quoted me the price before the children’s discount first:  “I always like to do it this way.” and then suggested the final price.  And though I knew what was happening, I allowed myself the brief lift of imagining the savings.

We paid up and bid the team fare well.  Later, walking through the mall, I couldn’t find any presents I wanted to buy, though I still had many more gifts I needed to secure.  My wife got herself some pyjama bottoms and I felt compelled to complain:  “You don’t buy yourself something two days before Christmas.”  I kept staring at my fellow shoppers, walking through the mall.  None of them looked very healthy.  None of them looked very attractive. Perhaps they thought the same considering me.  A Santa sat by a tree waiting to meet kids.  There was a roped off area to accommodate a queue.  No one was in line. Malls are rarely merry.  But I had enjoyed talking to the two people I'd met in Sears.