Today in the Life

[with apologies to John Lennon and Paul McCartney]

when I was a kid, old people worried about cheap imports from Japan, except of course for transistor radios; my parents bought me my first transistor, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, when I was only 10 or 11 [that was like 7 or 8 today]

by my teens, people complained about the cheap and poorly-made goods they bought from Hong Kong, and a few years later from Taiwan

and today’s world? an e-mail making the rounds lays out the daily agenda:

John Smith started early
✪ having set his alarm clock [MADE IN JAPAN] for 6 am
✪ while his coffeepot [MADE IN CHINA] was perking
✪ he shaved with his electric razor [MADE IN HONG KONG]
✪ put on a dress shirt [MADE IN SRI LANKA]
✪ designer jeans [MADE IN SINGAPORE]
✪ and tennis shoes [MADE IN KOREA]
✪ after making breakfast in his new skillet [MADE IN INDIA]
✪ he sat down with his calculator [MADE IN MEXICO]
to see how much he could spend today;
✪ after setting his watch [MADE IN TAIWAN]
✪ to the radio [MADE IN INDIA]
✪ he got in his car [MADE IN GERMANY]
✪ filled it with gas [FROM SAUDI ARABIA]
and continued his search for a good paying job

at the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day
✪ checking his computer [MADE IN MALAYSIA]
John decided to relax for a while so he
✪ put on his sandals [MADE IN BRAZIL]
✪ poured himself a glass of wine [MADE IN FRANCE]
✪ turned on his TV [MADE IN INDONESIA]
and wondered why he can't find
a Good Paying Job in the USA

more next time

Blessed Be