A few weeks ago, at my work, I approched a man amd asked him if he needed any help because he had been searching through the clothing section clearly on a mission. He responded asking me if we had any clothes that were made in America. I was slightly taken aback by this, and also unsure. I too then began feverishly looking through clothes so to not appear as totally clueless as I actually was. I'm pretty sure we searched the entire men's section before I darted off to find a co-worker who might know more. He couldn't think of any brand either. I finally had to turn to the man and say "No I'm sorry." This clearly was the wrong answer because the next thing I knew, he started critizing me about sweatshops and child labor. " You guys really shouldn't be selling these kind of clothes. Do you know what the conditions are like for those people ?" I was so taken aback and flustered that I just stood there and made some strange noise and felt guilty.
However, after reading this chapter, I feel that I am more enlightened about the subject, and I also feel less guilty. I wish I had read this sooner so that my response to him would have gone more like this: " Well, you see sir, Nike pays their workers $600 annually. This may not seem like anything to you or me, but to him it's actually double the annual income of a Vietnam worker. If we also refused to buy their products, we would just have those workers loose their jobs and not give them another way to find a source of income. You're right, the working conditions might be bad, but those people choose to work there and to take that choice away from them isn't our call." I mean I wish I had said this, but at the same time I probably wouldn't have even if I knew this because I wouldn't want to offend him or loose my job or come across that I am "gun-ho" for child labor and sweatshops. It's just interesting to see a different view point of the subject and to gather more information on the matter.
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