Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Foreign Invasion

Ed and I shop a lot. I rarely need or buy much, but when I go to new places, especially places that have boutiques, little shops or unique stores, I like to check them out. I don't always buy, but I do look.

But as I go through the stores, from little boutiques to big department stores, three little words always ruin my experience:

MADE IN CHINA

I am SO sick of seeing those three words on everything. Seriously, EVERY. SINGLE. THING. And there is really no avoiding it. Oh, I'd love to say "I'm never buying another thing made in China" (or Sri Lanka, or the Phillipines, or Malaysia, or Bangladesh), but it's nearly impossible. I'd like to, but I can't. I'd have to do without almost everything I buy.

I know this is a really pathetic post after I just did so much shopping, but with the Italy trip coming up, I've been buying more than usual and still have some items left on my list. It just annoys me that everything my hands touched, from Target to Nordstrom, had a tag on it indicating the item was made in another country.

On top of that, there's the same crap everywhere, just at different price points. A white tee in Nordstrom will set you back almost six times as much than a white tee in Target. And really, who is looking at your tag? I am so disgusted with the clothing selections, prices and manufacturing locations that I think I might take up sewing. Although, the fabric is probably made in China too.

So, tell me...what do you do?


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO:
Downtown Detroit: Occupied And Vacant
2 YEARS AGO:
Barracks And Decatur
3 YEARS AGO:
Dicks In Tennessee
4 YEARS AGO:
Canoe The Blue
5 YEARS AGO:
Minalicious

4 comments:

Dixie said...

I did a double-take today. I needed some new dresses for church, and while looking at size tags, I saw some "made in Mexico".
I thought it rather quaint.

Gil said...

Pretty sad what we have done to ourselves! We want top pay and we shop at walfarts for made in China goods. On my first trip there a manager told me that the only things they sold that weren't made in China were firearms and ammunition and I have my doubts on the ammunition as I never got anything with the ammo I bought there!!!

all things bradbury said...

in a previous life i used to weave and sell baskets and at one time i made a good portion of my living from it....but over the years it became increasingly impossible to sell a basket for a fair cost that you fell the oak tree....remove the bark, shave the weavers from the wood....sand it down....cut to size....hand weave around a handle you have shaved down, formed and kiln-dried....woven and packed till each row is precise, tight and neatly done, finished off with a tight and secure rim and then stained with the juice of walnuts that you have gathered and boiled the husks of yourself to make. it doesn't matter to most people that the basket you made will be around to hold the bread of their great grandchildren and beyond....what matters to most of them is that they can get a wicker/rattan/synthetic reed one that "looks just like it" at walmart for $1.99. and it doesn't matter that on the bottom it doesn't have my initials and the date it was woven....as long as it has that little silver sticker that says made in china.

myacrolife said...

I agree and I despise it myself. Nothing is authentic anymore. Same crap everywhere. You pay for CRAP. Crap that was made in a warehouse in china by a bunch of overworked and underpaid slave laborers. The world is corrupt girl and we support it!