We made the 46 mile trek today to IKEA in Frisco, Texas. We are creating a small apartment in the upstairs of our Victorian and needed a bed frame, plus other sundry items. I was struck by two things while in that North Dallas megastore. One was the number of children there – every couple seemed to have at least two and sometimes up to four – and the other was the diversity of the shoppers.
I am a kid person so I am happy to see little tykes. No one was making a nuisance of him/herself so there was no problem there. I did note the enormous amount of energy being expended by those young parents. Kids crawling on Dads’ backs and shoulders and Moms pulling little ones aside to give them a quick but effective “talking to” as we used to put it when I was growing up. There was a lot of happiness afoot among these families. I saw one whole family: the mother, father, and two boys testing out a bed all at on time and there was plenty of giggling going on. IKEA has lots of little stuffed animals for sale that are reasonably priced and it seemed that every other child I saw was carrying one. There is no question that this business has figured out their demographic to a T.
The other aspect that truly surprised me was the diversity of the clientele. I saw African-Americans, Latinos, Europeans, East Indians, Heinz 57 Caucasian Americans, Asian Americans, and a dozen other unidentifiable nationalities perusing all the departments of that huge store. Frisco is a suburb of Dallas and I can only surmise that many of the corporations north of Dallas have recruited folks from far and wide and now they are converging in what used to be a sleepy and tiny Texas town.
I am delighted to see this shift from all white to multi-colored. Texas was, after all, a Jim Crow state and prejudice has died a hard death. However, once the population becomes more diverse, it is not long before you meet an exception to whatever stereotypical attribute is associated to a particular ethnic group. At that point, you can no longer believe or say, “All _____ are lazy, dangerous or even smart.” People become people and we can all relax a bit.
So, besides the necessities I came away with from the store, I was given a clear new look at life in North Central Texas. Many people are indeed pouring into the Dallas metroplex, and their sheer numbers will shift the conservative dynamic in the state to one that is more open. This is a good thing. Open is better.
We bought our stuff, made the trek back and are now getting settled for bed. I could use a good night’s sleep, and I see the potential for one ahead of me. And on that note, I will bide you good-night.
Happy first day of 2013.
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