Another Obsession

I’ve become stubborn in my old age. For one thing, I am stubbornly dedicated to purchasing things made in the good old U.S.A.

Believe me, this obsession doesn't make life easy, but when so many in our county are unemployed, how can a citizen in good conscience buy new goods without knowing where they were made? Luckily, the Internet is a great help.

A few days ago Dennis and I were finishing our usual breakfast of toast and eggs and trying to add honey to the last bites of our toast. The honey, which I had transferred from its original glass bottle into a plastic squeeze bottle, was almost gone, and one couldn’t squeeze that bottle hard enough to get the honey out.

Right then and there I vowed to buy a honey pot, one with a lid that accommodates a dipper. We eat a lot of honey and I could keep a pretty honey pot on the table all the time instead of hiding an ugly plastic bottle in the cabinet.

Here’s where the Internet enters the picture. There was no need to drive from store to store looking for an American-made honey pot; I could shop on line. I searched for "honey pot" and found a jillion of ‘em and, thanks to similarly-obsessed-reader’s comments, I was able to identify those made in other countries. Even France’s famous Le Creuset has its honey pots made in China!

What a waste of energy it would be to transport my new honey pot halfway around the world! I wanted a beautiful honey pot made in the U.S.A., and by persistence I found one. It arrived today, one of a kind made by Rising Sky Artworks in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

I am a relatively happy woman, but don’t think I’ve gotten off my high horse about single-use plastic. Shopping for groceries today I glanced down an aisle I never use and was struck by one side of the entire aisle filled with single-use plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

What a contrast, huh? One lovely, useful thing that will last beyond my lifetime compared to a whole lot of ugly that will never go away.

Copyright 2013 by Shirley Domer