Toys in Front of IKEA

Yesterday, I take the subway to IKEA. I walk underground for a while until I emerge at exit 5, and walk a block to the big, big store. It's more like a church, and I when I need to go their to pray to the gods of domestic consumption, I try to go on a weekday. In some way, it's very nourishing, which is why I suspect that this church is much more attended than most churches around the world.

I return the pillows with Swedish names that I bought last week and then return to the subway. Just in front of IKEA are people with small carts and goods spread on the sideway, selling things that they think IKEA shoppers might like, like plates and foldup laundry hampers with colorful, modern designs.

As I cross the street, there is a young, dark-skinned man, probably in his late 20s, squatting on the grass beside the sidewalk. He is wearing a suit, which is pretty much the standard uniform of most adult men in Shanghai, even if they are from the countryside. These suits are usually a little dingy and the coat and pants sometimes don't match. They are best worn with sweaters and beat-up shoes.

On the sidewalk in front of him is a flat piece of brown cardboard, and on it are about eight or ten small wind-up toys. They are all about the size of a ping-ping ball, in different colors. You wind them up and they walk. He is tending to his wind-up toys, making sure they are all doing their assigned exercise for the evening. I bet you they each sell for 3 kuai (50 cents) a piece, and if he sells a few of them, he could eat a good bowl of noodle soup tonight.