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Walking Through a Big Box Store
Here is what I saw
Today I took a walk through the big box store I work at as a second job to supplement my anemic teacher’s salary. I put myself in the mindset of someone who is just an observer, not someone who works there and not someone who is shopping there. To the greatest degree possible, I tried to maintain a neutral position.
When I entered the store, I was struck by the enormity of it. It is obviously a home improvement store, though I suppose someone could argue that not all of the wares contribute to home improvement, especially the candy in the checkout aisles at eye level for children. The coolers with refrigerated and highly sugared soft drinks don’t do much to improve homes either. And $2 for a bottle of water? Seriously?
As I meandered up one aisle and down the other, I was struck by the sheer number of items that were made in China. To be honest, I was hard-pressed to find anything that was NOT made in China. I’m sure this is rationalized by saying most of these things are not made in the United States anymore, and that is probably true. Still, their willingness to sell Chinese-made goods and sell them cheap only fuels that supply chain and the investment people who support it. I wonder if they have ever considered having their signage printed in Chinese characters also? Probably not.
