I lived next to the U.S. border for an entire school year, and I didn’t set foot in the US once…except to use the nearest airport. Mind you, I did enjoy making fun of all the under-age, drunk Americans causing 2am traffic jams at the Windsor/Detroit tunnel from my comfy perch at the nearest McDonalds. A surreal yet brilliantly comedic sight. 
What exactly would I be buying that I can’t buy here? There are plenty of indigenous & (for want of a better term) branch-plant stores that cater to my geeky and satorial tastes…and I’m not exactly drooling for the chance to shop at Target.
And even if I was…why spend the gas money and pay the duty when it all equals out if I just head over to the nearest mall or power centre?
But I seem to be in the minority, as thousands of Canadians take advantage of our nearly-at-par dollar and head to the U.S., looking for bargains. Those MUST HAVE jeans that are $150 up here, but only $80 down there…though how I’d be convinced either of those prices are bargains is beyond me!
Frankly…if my fellow countrymen feel compelled to migrate south to satiate their retail hunger, they’re welcome to the experience. If I’m that desperate to get an American price on something (most likely a book), I’ll shop online. Otherwise, I’m more than content to avoid border madness and settle for local traffic nightmares on a busy Saturday shopping trip to downtown Toronto. Give me Chapters over Borders any day. I’ll take Yorkdale over the Walden Galleria…and I’ll gladly settle for the comforts of H&M over JCrew.
Don’t get me wrong…I love shopping as much as the next shopaholic…but let’s be real. There truly is nothing in the States that I can’t get here…and designer labels I’ve never heard of — let alone seen with my own eyes — are hardly going to drag me across the Peace Bridge on reputation alone. What am I, Conrad Black?
It must be some retail version of swallows returning to Capistrano…but I’m happy to be a native polar bear, who knows the old saying: “Once you’ve seen one Wal-Mart, you’ve seen them all!” 
