Made in the USA…it doesn't really matter...
Let’s face it…I’m pretty cool. My ego and desire for “cool” foreign gadgets and gear led me to buy a lot of neat and really essential things. You know, the important stuff like a foreign car that could really take corners and impress the ladies… it was awesome. I also had all these fancy clothes that were made somewhere else that always needed dry-cleaning. I guess that was awesome too! My computers, phone, almost every item in my home, and probably the gas in my car all seemed to come from somewhere other than America. Wow…how awesome. I am cool because imports are cool.
Wait, did I just see that unemployment in America is around 9%? If you factor in “real” numbers (not government) the true rate is probably around 16-18%. This has to be a mistake…look at all the stuff we have….we must be a rich nation….everyone always says we are.
Ok who to blame?!?! It is probably Wal-Mart’s, or George Bush, or Barack Obama, or GE, or Nike. Obviously this wasn’t my fault….oh yeah, it was Wall Street’s. But I need to make sure. Let me get on my Samsung laptop and do some research. Dammit, I left the power cord at my office. No problem, I’m just hop in my Mercedes and burn some gas derived from Saudi Arabia and drive to my office which is filled with drywall from China. Unfortunately, my lock from Canada is sticking but I think I can get in. The office door from Mexico opens and I flip on the lights that are made in China. Thank goodness I did or I would have tripped over that coffee table that came from Brazil. I found the cord hidden behind my office desk that was made in Sweden. I grab it and stuff it into my backpack that was made in England. Now time to head home. As I drive home I decide to grab some coffee from McDonalds. After I pull out of the drive thru a guy driving a Toyota pulls right out in front of me. I slammed on my German brakes and the darn coffee spills all over my shirt made in Bangladesh. It’s hot coffee. I clean up the mess and finally make it home.
I am so excited to get to work to find out who is to blame for these unemployment numbers. I turn off my Toshiba TV, flip on my desk light made in China, and plug in my power cord into my Samsung laptop. I get on the internet, pull up “the Google” and type “who is to blame for the unemployment problem in America?” My computer works on the search for a second (btw…I am SOOO ready to find out who to be mad at) and then, out of nowhere, my computer screen goes dark. All I can see is my own reflection in it.
Yep. It’s my fault. To even highlight the extreme nature of my dysfunction I am from FLINT MICHIGAN!!! ..the birthplace of General Motors. What the hell was I thinking? Or right…I wasn’t. I am an unpatriotic jackass. But I am going to do better. I will make a conscious effort to buy more items made in America, even if that costs a little more, because I know it is the right thing to do and America and unemployed Americans needs help today….right now. I can do better and I will. I promise.
And I know you can do better too.
Week #3: January 15-21, 2012
