Lazy Americans, and Chinese plywood

So, today, I need to run out to the local home improvement store for 3 sheets of plywood for a project this weekend. The identity of the store is not important, as this scene could just as easily played itself out in either of the two big box retailers here in town.

I am the typical male shopper. I know what I want. I know where it is (most of the time). I know what I am willing to pay for it, and what I am not. I found my target grade of plywood. The price fell within my value range for the product, so the deal was done.....wait a minute....where are the lumber carts?

Usually, I would have grabbed a lumber cart as soon as I saw one after walking in the door, but it has dawned on me that I have passed no such carts. I start walking up and down aisles looking for carts. As I'm walking (and not seeing ANY carts), I keep hearing a loud 'BANG'.....'BANG'.....'BANG'. The sound, is clearly heavy lumber being thrown (not dropped) somewhere in the store.

I finally make my way to the last aisle. As I turn the corner, the first thing I see is 3 of the store employees, quite loudly discussing their plans for later on that evening. The next thing I see is the source of the thrown lumber. Two customers are going through 2X8's (framing grade lumber mind you). Their 'rejects', they are literally throwing over the cart to land pixie stick style in the middle of the aisle. The aisle is impassable by the time I come upon this spectacle, and ALL of this is within view of the gaggle of employees. I hear one of the customers exclaim (quite loudly I may add) that they ARE going to find 2X8's in that stack without knots. My thought was, "No you're not, but you can believe that if you want".

So, now I have witnessed 2 retarded customers, and 3 store employees who don't seem to care enough about their store to do something to help avoid it being trashed; and I STILL haven't found a lumber cart. I decide that if they are not in the store, I will most likely find some outside. I walk by the cashier at the head of the lumber aisle. She pays me no attention. I'm not sure what had her attention, but it sure wasn't me. I walk out, and there, in all their glory, sits nearly every lumber cart in the store's inventory (or so it seems to me). I take hold of my quarry, and head right back to the door I came out (exit door mind you). I clunk..clunk my way in past the same cashier. She still has better things going on. I head back to the plywood (I can still hear the bang bang brothers). I load my cart up.

Now, not patting myself on the back, but I know that they need to scan this stuff, so in an effort to make the check out process a bit smoother, I usually try to make sure one barcode is facing so that the cashier can scan it easily (although she may have enjoyed the distraction of searching for it). I flipped the last sheet around so the barcode was faced out, and what did I see? At the bottom of the tag, in big, bold letters.....MADE IN CHINA! Serious! Are you freaking kidding me!? We are importing plywood from CHINA!!??

I feel like I could write something akin to a doctoral thesis on this, but suffice it to say:

- America, you have grown lazy. You have spent so much time and energy protecting people from the consequences of their bad decisions, that there are no longer any precipitable consequences. Unfortunately, that is a gross distortion of reality, and it will come home to roost. It is possible that it is too late to repair the damage, but we have to do something. People! WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS!! Take some pride in yourself! Take some pride in what you do! Don't pander to the lowest common denominator! We must hold ourselves to a standard, and achieve it!

My 2 cents worth, adjusted for inflation