Quality Shrinks As Outsourcing Grows

Once upon a time, the American public could buy household equipment that had a decent life expectancy. Not anymore.

There was a time when you bought a casserole dish made by Corning in New York State; they were guaranteed to last a good period of time. Recently I bought a set of casserole dishes online. I received a load of junk. I wrote to Corning and asked what happened to many of their employees that worked at the New York plant before the company decided it was cheaper to have it made in China. No answer.

Corning Ware is not the only item cheaper, yes, but dependability, none. What about the Levi denims? Three towns were left without suitable employment. Pots and pans are made out of steel. What happened to Revere Ware from Clinton, Ill.? What happened to Farberware? Now I go around secondhand stores looking for something I can use and polish. My Black & Decker chopper will never last five years. Neither will my toaster.

I just gave my car away to a gentleman who deals in old cars. I asked him what he is going to do with the old worn-out hulk. He answered, "It's going to China." Another pot and pan which I won't buy.

Someone is making a pile of money when our American firms move to China. I reviewed what I learned in 101 Economics. What's lacking in the Far East? Unions! Many times I was in management and automatically not eligible to join the union.

When a woman living in a three-room apartment with 34 other individuals asked for a cent raise for each product she was turning out to enable her to move to a less crowded quarter, the American firm consisting of billionaires, denied the request.

The NAFTA group is another story. I have decided that a vegetable from Peru and fruit from Chile isn't worth writing about. The soil in these countries must be lacking. The only beef from grass-fed cows is from Argentina. We don't get that. We get the beef from cows fed on an assortment of fodder and injections to promote growth.

Fish is another problem. We see packages marked "cod" and "grouper." In small print, it says "China." When I lived in New York City, I spent my summers in Massachusetts and Maine. I never saw a Chinaman on the fishing vessels. I asked about the validity of the names given the fish. I was told that "China" meant it was processed there. I want to know the real name of the fish. Real cod is only caught in the outer banks and that's not China. Anything else is "erratz."

Helga Curtis

Brooksville