Cyber Monday...where?

Okay, so I am not big on B.F. after Thanksgiving. I don't even like to acknowledge it in any commercial sense with regard to big retailers. I know that the deals are frequently better on the very same items in the beginning of November, if there really is a Must Have of anything. I've been prudent, feeling that what I must have this year is really LESS of any thing and MORE of space.

To whit, I am sitting here, frustrated after an hour online trying to Cyber a deal on a microwave. No Deal. Really. We bought this cute Magic Chef at Home Depot in July. It stopped on Thanksgiving morning. Really. Now, it's not that we are big microwaver-s and have used it to death. Personally, I use it once every morning to heat water for my coffee press...7:11 minutes to be exact. Just water. Occasionally, my husband will have some coffee and by the time he adds the sugar and the creamer, one more minute to re-heat his coffee back to an acceptable level. We do heat the occasional left overs, but as I do not like leftovers of Anything, that is usually just a few minutes here and there. Having explained all this leaves me feeling CHEATED by the microwave company. I don't blame Home Depot, really, since there was this warranty. But since it would cost me more to ship the thing back than I paid for it, I am left with a useless piece of electronics...a.k.a, the Boat Anchor. Not recyclable. Not useable. Another piece of blight on the soil of this country. So, I cyber searched this morning. No deals. What I did find are HUGE amounts of online reviews of people reporting the same issues with ANY brand of microwave.

So is this life for all of us now? To spend roughly $100 on a small microwave to have it die in 4 months? Math, anyone. Yes, it is less than a dollar a day, if you use it every day, but that is compared to microwaves that lasted 15 years. Even then, at a price of $400, for just 10 years, that is a cost, of um, , a whopping 11 CENTS a day. And I rounded UP. 

I am left thinking that this is just another sign of greed run amok in the good ole' US. [I don't subscribe anymore to the 'of America' part, but that has to do with freedom and rights and the Constitution and I won't go into that here. I might though, one day.]  What bothers me is that I cannot determine if my product was even made in America. Is anything these days? 

In the meantime, I am boiling water on the stove. It worked for my grandmother, so I am betting it will still work for me. But as I get ready to drag my German vacuum cleaner out to try and suck up the remnants of the Thanksgiving weekend, I am most struck by the fact that Made in America used to be common place, and it used to mean Quality. 

Today I am sad. Not about the microwave. But because there are so many wonderful people in this country, who care about their work and who would be happy to go and earn the money needed to support their families and with loving attention, make a quality product for others. Because when we talk about Handmade, the line for me gets a little blurry on this one. Yes, my bead caps are made with lots of love and attention and a bit of my very own Soul. The beads I bought this weekend from other Artists are made the same way. I can feel it. And I'm willing to bet that many of my readers know it in the same way. It evokes joy, bliss and pleasure to hold in your hand such a treasure. 

PLEASE, tell me again how that differs from ANY thing made the same way? Or any work performed with attention to detail and the sense that what we do MATTERS. It does Matter. If you work somewhere and you throw your heart in to what you do, it matters. And there are those of us who Know it and Appreciate it and are Thankful more than just one day a year.