I took my mom to the 99 Cent store in Southern California where we lived about 30 years ago. She was practically blind from macular degeneration and so I was her eyes. She’d pick something up and ask me with her faint voice, “Is this made in China?”
“Yes,” I said.
So she put it down. She did this over and over again until I said, “Mom, everything in this store is made in China.” We left the store empty handed.
My mom’s obsession with goods made in China was because they used (still using?) child labor. She banned buying anything made in China for the rest of her life.
She also sent me a dozen articles about baby cows being caged in cages so small that they couldn’t turn around. The sight of those poor creatures made me swear of veal piccata forever. In fact, I swore off beef entirely and eventually all red meat. It’s been 37 years now. One of the main reasons was because I found red meat too difficult to digest and for those photos my mom sent me.
My parents began skiing when they were 40 years old. My brother was 9 and I was 7.
Along the way my mom bought a pair of beautiful seal skin after-ski boots. Somewhere she saw the killing/clubbing of baby seals for their pelts. Those after-ski boots disappeared quickly.
My mom would feed the birds. I remember her traipsing through the snow down our back hill to spread cracked corn and sunflower seeds for the pheasants. Of course, my parents posted “No Hunting” signs on our property.
My parents were a big influence on me. I’ve never hunted. I have a birdseed feeder and a hummingbird feeder on my front porch. After seeing a disturbing video of fish being bashed on the head, I’m thinking twice about fishing. However, I still want to fish for bass in Clearlake, so I’m not giving that up just yet.
A friend recently suggested that I should give three of my four cats away to save money on their food. I just about choked. I love each cat dearly and could never give any of them away even if our government trashes my Social Security and makes all items so expensive from tariffs that I won’t be able to afford anything, I won’t give my cats away. Ever.
Research says that people are giving up expensive items like steak, jewelry and electronics. Apple has announced a new iPhone, the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro. I’ve always had iPhones and my current one is an iPhone 12 Pro Max. Someone suggested that I upgrade before the China tariffs kick in. They said that I could get one on a plan, which I’ve never done. There’s no way I’ll be upgrading, especially with the President unleashing a 104% tariff on China goods.
So no trading in my cats or my iPhone!
I’ve also been buying my laundry sheet detergent from Canada. Are they going to be more expensive too? I first started with laundry sheet detergent from China and switched to the Canadian made sheets. Not easy to find a good one made and shipped in the U.S.
It feels like everything is going to be more difficult to find and more expensive.
What’s a girl to do?…buckle up for the roller coaster ride that’s coming, and hope that not every country in the world is going to hate U.S.
Lucy Llewellyn Byard welcomes comments and shares. To contact her, email lucywgtd@gmail.com
