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I reconnoitered brifly in Park City on July 19, spied somewhat indifferently on some of the those pretend chic Main St. shops. Like a lost sheep, I followed my wife into one of these stores; I would rather forsake the weekend and work at KSL than shop; for me, shopping is a marital endurance test: Be patient use and the Blackberry, and wait for the time to pass.
But I do love mugs, mugs that boast of local origin. One store had several shelves of mugs, all adorned with the Park City logo. I made the mistake of turning them over. They were all made in either Taiwan or China. Over there, in the corner, the Park City T-Shirts, made in Vietnam, or China, or another exotic Asian locale; one slipped in from Indonesia. I asked the clerk why all the local flavor came from Asia. "That's what they send us," she blandly and indifferently replied and then turned away.
You can find Utah in Moab, the local is real, the flavor is real, the product is here, not on the far side of Pacific Ocean. The mugs, the earrings, most were minted locally. But there was one Moab exception. We ecounted the French tourist looking for real American cowboy boots, but one whole section slipped in from Indonesia. European tourists are intrigued with the vast expanse of the West. They don't come here looking for Asia but for us. Cheap Asian imports should not supplant local American flavor. I felt the American soul was sold out in Park City.
