Dollar Store Death

It can buy you oh-so-much!

So, there I was, following my sister into the dollar store.  She is a new teacher this year (and she is going to be fabulous, by the way, I know you didn't have any doubt anyway, but I just had to make it clear for all-a-y'all.) and we were looking for those thingies that go on your desk that has your name on it.  You've seen them, those name label-thingies in every elementary classroom 'round this good earth with the names in perfect printing or cursive of each of the little darlins who will sit there and make that desk home for the nine months to come.  So, anyway, we were in luck, and they had a section of it in multiple colors (Hooray!  I totally tried to get her to buy the ones with pink it in but she went with primary colors.  She's practical like that.  PSH!  Boys will just love their new pink nametags!  Er, well, perhaps no.).  Then we went to walk around and see if there was anything else we could get on a bargain.

That's when I noticed something.  All of the food products were...well...how shall I put this delicately?  Ah yes, poison.  They were poison.  High fructose corn syrup laden, mixin' in with all the partially hydrogenated oils you could shake a stick at - not to mention polysorbate 20, 40, 60 and 80.  They were probably inventing polysorbates just to put in there for dollar store convenience (Look!  NEW!  Now with Polysorbate 124!).  Then, we meandered away from the polysorbates to the parabens in the health and beauty section and finally over to the collection of oodles and oodles of bpa plastics.

In their defense, I did see some things that I have a slight obsession over - that is, glass jars.  Why am I in love with glass jars?  Not sure, but, alas, I am.  Maybe so I can store some kombucha in there...mmm...kombucha...be right back...

Aahh, kombucha.  Now where was I?  Ah yes, glass jars...  No, poison.  Yes.

So then I got to thinking, who goes to these stores mainly?  Probably old people, they love bargains.  Probably poor people, they don't want to spend a lot of money on stuff.  If you combine these two, you get a subsection of our society that is usually left without much of a voice because they are considered weaker than the rest.  (Well, besides the occasional teacher - they're not weak - they just get paid like $5/hour to teach, referee, counsel, feed,  console, etc. everyone else's children for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, 40 weeks a year, don't even get me started...)  And you know what?  I think that's wrong.  The corporations who are in love with cheap labor in China are manufacturing this garbage and pumping it out (like it's a pollutant into their nearby river) to the weakest members of our society.

In the words of Solomon, (repudiated to be the wisest man who has ever lived!) collected in the book we call Proverbs, he says, "Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished."  (Proverbs 17:5) and "Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty." (Proverbs 22:16)  Now, I'm not all about going crazy and turning the Gospel (translation: good news) into a social justice issue here, I'm just saying I think there's something messed up going on.

Now, I'm not going to have a fit on you if you want to go to the dollar store, I'm just here to encourage you to think about things.  Does this issue bother you?  Do you think it's anyone's choice to shop there if they want to or not, so if they want to use that stuff, that's their problem and we shouldn't even worry about it?  You tell me.

Something to think about, perhaps.

And now, back to the kombucha.

Peace, love and kombucha,
Ms. Daisy