Stop Trump, Canada: Boycott Hudson's Bay Company

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In desperate need of a new winter coat, I walked into the Hudson's Bay Company today because the store had a great sale.

I looked through all the Calvin Klein and London Fog coats, all deliciously marked down by 50 or 75 percent and I was about to take out my grand new charge card, when something caught my eye.

Over in the corner, in the designer section, there was a display of tunic dresses that looked very familiar. I thought I recognized one from the inauguration of Donald J. Trump, 45th president of the United States. But of course, I was mistaken. Ivanka Trump wouldn't actually wear one of these reasonably priced dresses that were on display. She just feigns to sell them to the plebes.

I put back the coat I had chosen, and headed for Sears where I bought myself a sensible parka. Sure, I liked the coats at the Bay better, but I couldn't support the Trump brand. I have vowed never to contribute one dime to that hateful man's family.

Sorry, Ivanka.

I won't be shopping for cute togs for my granddaughter at BuyBuy Baby, either. Or Saks Fifth Avenue. Or Lord and Taylor. Seriously, Ivanka, you should go into a new line of work. Your brand will never recover from this.

There's not much we can do about Donald Trump in Canada. We didn't vote for him, and can't vote him out. But we sure as shootin' can vote with our wallets, and that's what I did today. Like many other consumers, I've joined the Grab Your Wallet campaign, and pledged to boycott all things Trump: his hotels, his steaks, his wine (why would you ever buy a wine from a teetollar, anyway?) There will be no Trump mattresses in this house. No cute dresses and handbags.

And here's why.

With several strokes of his pen, Donald John Trump put the world on notice. He told the world that he doesn't much like brown people.  He thinks that Mexicans are rapists and drug dealers, and he knows in his heart that every Muslim has a machete under the bed. He wants America to be as pink as the rosacea on the face of Darth Bannon.

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Donald Trump wants to put a wall around America to keep out everybody who doesn't look like him. He'd build a dome over America if he could get away with it.

It's the Muslim ban that has me most steamed and why I'm boycotting the Bay.

Last year, I worked at Home Outfitters, an affiliated HBC store. About half the people I worked with came from predominantly Muslim countries. Several of my coworkers were working more than one job. One of them was becoming an engineer, another had been accepted to serve with the RCMP. Like me, they worked for low wages and were treated shabbily, but unlike me, I never heard one of them complain. They were just happy to have been given an opportunity to work in Canada and escape whatever hell hole they came from.

At least a third of the people who came into my store also came from predominantly Muslim countries. I remember one customer, a beautiful tall Somalian woman who glided through the store as if she were on skates. When I got closer, I saw that her hands and feet had been cut off. Her hands were made of wood. Clearly, she was either the victim of violence or disease.

A lot of our customers were nasty to us, complaining that they didn't like our prices, or that we were ripping them off. A few of them actually said they were glad our store was closing and hoped that we, the staff, wouldn't find jobs. Those people left several of my managers in tears. All of those customers were white.

I remember one day helping out a Muslim family who had come to Canada with nothing, and they had to buy all new bedding and towels. The mother didn't speak English, so the daughter had to translate. I spent a couple of hours with them as they carefully picked out their new purchases. Several times, we were interrupted by rude customers who were too lazy to use the store price checkers. Again, all of those entitled customers were white.

After I finished helping this family, I nudged them to the cash because we were about to close. Just before the door were locked, the daughter rushed back in and came up to me.

She gave me a big hug.

"Thank you for being so kind to my family," she said.

It made me want to cry.

I thought of that young girl today, and got a little weepy thinking that she could have been on Trump's hit list.

I thought about my Muslim coworkers, too, who had made my horrible little job a little better. Hamid, the engineer, especially. He always had a joke, even if I could barely understand what it was.

And then I thought about Donald Trump and my blood began to boil.

How could he deny these wonderful people hope, and a future? And how could America have elected such a hateful horror of a human being?

"We must keep evil out of this country," he tweeted yesterday.

Then I thought, good, pack your bags, Donnie and take those horrible little minions with you.

Of course, that won't happen. This is life, it's not a reality show.

But we don't have to feel powerless.

Which brings me to my point, and I do have one.

It's hard to hurt Mr. Trump. He is rich and powerful.

But there is one way to do it.

Grab Your Wallet.

Boycott anything Trump.

Hit him in his pocket book.

Bankrupt the bugger.

Again.

Here in Canada, you can make a difference, too.

Write a letter, and tweet to the Hudson's Bay Company -- which by the way is buying Macy's -- and embarrass them into dumping the Trumps.

You have more power than you realize.

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