Just Bought My Last Aftermarket Trim

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

100% correct. It's funny how people will blame just about everything but themselves though

Right on, leddzepp.

Of course, This is a bigger issue than a bunch of truck guys and womyn sitting around a virtual campfire can cure.
And no one wants to log on to this tasty Forum to get bummed out with fire and brimstone.

But I have to share this:

Rewind: I don't shop at Wally Mart or Sam's Club. There were few rules in this house while we were raising our kids. One was "No Walmart".
I ain't preachin'. My reasons for this was so deeply "American", that if I spewed it all out, I'd even make *myself* sick.

So, for me, off of the Walmart topic for now.

So, anyway,...I needed some slippers. There's what they call an "Indian" shop (that's what THEY call it) in the area my woman drags
me when she does her shopping. It's in a stand-alone building with some really nice Native-American made stuff (or "First People", or
whatever is the proper way to say it ) . I've purchased a couple of things there. Not cheap. But that was mostly in my days of my having a
little more expendable income than I do now.

So, a few years ago, in I go. Nicely beaded..in a manly way...leather with a thick sole. Even in my size. As I always do, I asked,
"... which 'tribe' or region?"

The lady says, "China".

I said, "....these moccasins were made in China?"

She responds, "Isn't everything these days?"

I left.


Salient M17 points that I TRY to apply to my own life...I'm a little bit of a pig. So it doesn't always work. These, I apply to myself. So do not take
it as a directive. I don't do "you should do this too's". But, do not read if you don't understand that this is only MY own path for ME:


- Shop for *value*. Not for price.

- As I did with the Mar-k: If any part of the price is too high, throttle back on my desire or consumption.

- As I *didn't do* with the LMC stuff: Find out its quality (and origin) before you buy anything. A little research goes a long way.

- I served my country in the Armed Forces (1965-1971...not a good time, but I had it easier than most of our brave men and women...
Thanks For Your Service to you all). But I did not do so so that I could buy Asian cars (I have one...unfortunately), or cheaper gas.
Or, ...oops... gettin' too political....Whoa, M17. Whoa!!

- The big fix is for the U.S. to pull away from a "Consumer Economy", and re-develop a "Manufacturing Economy"...or a sensible hybrid
of "Service/Manufacturing/Consumption" economics.

- That ^^^^^ ain't gonna happen without things getting real messy.

- I support local business. Not that I spend that much dough. No one cares about where *I* buy stuff but me. I gotta do my part.
So I read labels. Can't beat 'em. But I ain't joinin' 'em, either. At least to the extent that I have choices.

Almost all of our American trucks have foreign parts "sewn" into them.
Hard to help that. But we're all doin' our parts to keep what we can of (shall I say it) our "culture" alive.





Damn! I wasn't fat then..........