Scouts

The maker of Girl Scout uniforms has been doing so since 1968 in a small factory in New Jersey. Today the Girl Scouts find it economically prudent to solicit bids for the required gear, and likely, the cheapest bids will come from Guatemala or China. Just my guess.

Granted, I know nothing about this organization, but in my mind's eye I see it as an all American affair; I don't mentally envision the Moroccan Girl Scouts or Burmese troops selling cookies outside their bazaars or shopping malls, or whatever they call their own versions of their consumption centers. But there might be some foreign presence for all I know.

I think it interesting that an 11-year old Elk Grovian girl might someday soon climb into her mom's chariot, their Nissan Murano, get shuttled to her girl scout rally across town to meet up with a dozen others, all wearing apparel manufactured by nameless, faceless 11-year old Chinese girls 8,342 miles distant. The $29,454 cost of the Murano? Just another necessary accessory that comes with suburban living; clearly, a non-discretionary expense these days. The cost of a $6.50 sash for her little scout? Whoa, way too fucking much. What are they trying to do, bankrupt working families? Outsource that labor! Drop the price to a more reasonable $3.97.

And so we will. And we'll lose another small piece of American manufacturing, and the textile mills will produce a few bolts fewer than before, and the carton company will produce a few fewer shipping boxes than before, and on it goes. But while the parents lose their jobs and will find other, lower paying jobs in and around New Jersey, at least they'll be able to send their own little girls to scout meetings, because now they can afford the sashes and the vests...and the buttons and the pins and the badges for that matter.