Onwards!

January 5-6, 2007

After we both blew the boycott, we decided not to give up, but to persevere in the face of adversity and failure.

On Saturday I bought some postcards at Newark airport in an attempt to convince my friend, Adam, in Chicago that New Jersey really is a beautiful place. He seems skeptical. The postcards were made in America. What a relief!

My Sunday ritual of sanctity and peace while perusing the sales circulars and cutting out coupons was greatly stymied by our ban. Prior to December, I never gave much thought to where the things I wanted were made. This Sunday, I cynically assumed that everything on sale was made in China. Of course, this probably wasn't true, but how could I tell? Circulars rarely list where things were made.

Late Sunday evening we ventured over to CVS for some "essential shopping." Going to a drugstore for things like body wash, Q-tips and sometimes food, is still a bit odd to me. I don't recall doing this very often when I was more reliant on my car for transportation. Now that we live in the city, it is far more convenient to walk to CVS, Walgreens, Harvestime (the local grocery store) or whatever. The convenience is further elevated by the fact that there are so many places crammed together that it is easier to comparison shop and purchase items at the lowest prices from a variety of places. I tell myself this helps us save money. It might be a lie.

None of our purchases on that trip were made in China. We remembered to look at some of the things while we were at the store, others we didn't look at until we got back to the apartment.

As we put our purchases away, a new rule is added to the list...

If we purchase something and do not realize that it is made in China before we leave the store, we must take it back. Ignorance or failure to look before buying is no longer a valid reason.

Have I mentioned yet that I don't like rules?