A Year without “Made in China”
Two days after Christmas, we kicked China out of the house. Not the country obviously, but bits of plastic, metal, and wood with the words“Made in China”. We kept what we already had, but stopped bringing any more in.
That we did so was not because of China’s fault. It had covered our lives with different kinds of things like toys, tools, and 10-dollar children’s shoes. We couldn’t keep from enjoying what China was selling. But one Monday after the holiday, when I made a list of the gifts received by dividing them into two groups, China and non-China, I found such a result: The number came to China, 25, the world, 14. Then I realized that Christmas had become a holiday made by Chinese. Suddenly I’d had enough. I wanted China out.
I managed to get my husband’s support and on January 1 we started to stop buying any Chinese goods and decided to last the act for a year. The first problem we had was when I discovered our son’s tennis shoes became too small. I made great effort to find the new ones. After two weeks I broke down and spent $60 on shoes from Italy. I felt the money was too much for a pair of children’s shoes. We have trouble on lots oflittle things, such as candles for my husband’s birthday, the needle and thread my husband needed to sew sleeping bags. Besides, the drawer couldn’t be opened since January. My husband found the tool to fix it in a store but left it on the shelf when he saw“Made in China”.
Avoiding Chinese toys has been a difficult affair. In the spring, our four-year-old son couldn’t bear any more and then strongly supported“China things”. He’svalued friendship very much, but he’s tired of Danish-made Legos, the only birthday gifts for his friends. One morning in October, when we went shopping, he suddenly wanted an electric pumpkin eagerly.“It’s too long without China,”he cried. He upset me all day. The next morning I drove him back so he could use his birthday money to buy the pumpkin for himself.
I don’t know what we will do after December 31 when our family’s act comes to its end. Life without“Made in China”products has been a trouble. After a year without China I can tell you this: You can still live without it, but without it life will be more and more full of difficulty. And a decade from now I may not be brave enough to try it again.
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