3 Little Words

There are a few things in life that really make me grumpy…

The way Amazon send you something the size of a thimble in a box the size of a kennel.

The way adverts are SO MUCH LOUDER than the programme you’re actually watching.

People who say “I tell it the way it is”… (this one literally makes me want to scream).

But few things really make me want to rant than the following:

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GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

This was on some packaging I had with a necklace I bought from a well known Cornish clothes shop in the Christmas sale, and it was only when I went to clear up (ah-hem – about a month after a bought it – ooops…) that I notice the 3 words that are guaranteed to get my heckles up: Made in India. Or China. Or Indonesia.

Now, just to be completely clear, I appreciate this is a charged subject, and I’m not against sending work abroad, but what I am against is brands that pride themselves, actually market themselves on being local, Brisish brands, who then outsource the production of their garments to another country. I sincerely hope that this company would only use reputable factories, who adhere to proper Heath & Safety standards and pay their workers a fair wage, but the headlines in recent years have told us about plenty of large high street names who don’t.

But even if they do treat their workers well, wouldn’t it be nice to see a large retail chain who boast “Designed in Cornwall, made in the UK”? Or even, shock horror, “Designed in Cornwall, made in the Cornwall”?! It’s all very well marketing the living daylights about your Cornish roots, product pictures showing models mooching around harbour side locations al la Padstow or St Ives and basically making a buck off the seaside lifestyle, but all of this rings very hollow when you turn the item over and see those 3 little words.

And I know this is pretty much the norm;  we had a customer in the shop before Christmas who had spent all year only buying things which were made in the UK, and she said she had no idea how hard it would be. Which is pretty depressing.

Look, I’m not naive; I know it’s all about the money (money money) – but it’s nice to sit and daydream about a day where life is better – where the sun shines in summer, where war is no more and where things which are designed in the UK are actually made here too.

 

 

 

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