Letter to the Editor

Your view: Think before buying

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Being a born and raised Sikestonian, but somewhat displaced in St Louis, I read the Standard via the web to keep tabs of you all back home. This morning I checked the paper and saw Mike Jensen's article "American made is a thing of the past." It really hit me because not about a week ago I started checking the same thing.

What got me started looking is when I was eating at the Cracker Barrel in Fenton. They had a great display of all kinds of patriotic paraphernalia, from plates, to T-shirts, to pens and games. Some of the items are a part of a set called "The Americana Collection." The others are called "American Pride." I turned one item over to check the price tag and to my surprise the items read "Made In China."

The only two items on display that were Made in America were two books, one on Medal of Honor recipients and one on the Constitution. I started looking around the store there at Cracker Barrel and turned over item after item... Made in China. I asked a clerk if everything there was from China and she said no, the little peg game comes from Tennessee. There was maybe two or three other things made in the US there.

Now every time I go to a store, doesn't matter if its Schnuck's or any place else I check the label before I buy. If it says anything other than Made in the USA or Made in America then I ask myself "Do I really need this?" If it is something that is not needed right away then I fore go the purchase to maybe find it somewhere else with the right tag. I urge everyone to do the same.

Forget that spur of the moment purchase if the tag is from another country...spur of the moment usually means it is not really necessary at that time. So look around. See if you can find it somewhere else with the tag "Made in America."

Respectfully,

Darryl Spurlock