Barbara J. Hamby

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I’m Mad as Hell and I Wouldn’t Take it Any More If I Had a Choice

I’m angry and weary of bringing home new merchandise, usually made in China or some other far off land, and having some defect appear the minute it comes out of the box. Yes, it will usually be replaced, but I have to haul it back to where I bought it, pack it in and haul the replacement home. Then I have to hope it doesn’t have the same, or some other, defect.

My most recent faulty purchase is called a “Steel Anti-Gravity Lounger.” What a great idea, I thought. It shouldn’t tip over. However, when we got it home, we couldn’t figure out how to get it into a usable position and I discovered a screw that was totally disconnected. When I calm down, probably tomorrow, I’ll go back and complain.

I know that I’m fortunate to be able to buy the things I need and/or want, but I’m feeling like boycotting merchants at the moment. That’s unfair, I know, certainly it’s just as much, if not more, trouble for them to have to take stuff back and return it to the manufacturers. There is an invisible wall between the consumers and the profiteering CEO’s, stockholders, etc. who outsource manufacturing to the cheapest sources of labor.

Blaming the exploited laborers of poverty-stricken countries for accidentally or deliberately producing less than perfect products, seems extremely unfair.

So, how do I handle my frustration? My head aches, my feet hurt, and I have to go back to the store and deal with a problem I didn’t create, don’t want, and wish I’d never heard about.

What I’ve chosen to do is whine to my readers, who may become fewer after reading this.