I Can't Be Stopped

Honestly, hold me back. Because for the past three days I've done nothing but think about scrapbooking...

I knew that the moment I decided it'd be ok that I wouldn't be able to do anything else. And I haven't... I've been to a dollar store, Kent and Zellers. I have paper, things to cut and glue paper, a few albums and stickers. But not enough stickers. There is no such thing as enough stickers. Zellers had a bunch of cool tools for making things pretty, but I had already been to Kent and forced myself to use some restraint.

So far I've completed four pages. I'm starting small and doing an 8x8 album, so as not to exhaust myself to early. The theme is also pretty simple; it's more of a "friendship" thing than an event related thing. The unfortunate issue I have is that most of my pictures are on CD, and that makes them difficult to put on pretty paper. Thankfully I didn't go digital until my third year, so there are plenty of things to scrapbook. Then there's high school, and the trips I've been on. Childhood may deserve a book or two. Oh the places you'll go!

The thing is, I know I'll get better with time, especially with the Creative Memories cutting system I just ordered... So I don't want to get to involved right away. I was looking around the interweb for layout ideas, and found it more frustrating than anything, because I'm just not that handy with a glue stick yet!

So my weekend shifts have never ended up looking like the schedule says they will. For example. Today and tomorrow I was supposed to work 11am-11pm both days. That has changed to 11-5:30, then 11pm-7am, and 3pm-11pm Sunday. That's no more than 8 hours off between shifts, the least being 6. I'm supposed to stay up all night and I've been up since 8:30 this morning... Good thing I likes me job!

Speaking of important things... I'm finding my brain is de-sharpening significantly, especially in the critical thinking area of life. The doctor has ordered a dose of Sodoku and making amends with the library in order to get at the books they be holdin'.

Anyway, I was reading over at Rejectthenull.blogspot.com about sweatshops, and how a bad job is better than no job at all. It's been on my thinker, but I'm still not entirely happy with my response, but here she be anyway.


Did you know it's called a sweatshop after "sweater" not perspiring like I thought?


This was a very helpful article.

The point that sweatshops do provide citizens of developing nations with some economic standing is obvious. A woman making $0.25 an hour will be better off than a woman making nothing (I use woman on purpose, because the vast majority of sweatshop workers are women, some sites say 90%). But there is no economic freedom involved in the equation. The impact is multi-faceted, but maybe most significantly (at least on the micro level), it's psychological. A woman who works in a sweatshop 60 hours a week is likely to continue in that for life. There is no opportunity for "career" advancement, or any time to dedicate to bettering one's living conditions. Life then stalls at the factory. Kids grow up in that environment and know nothing else, and the cycle continues. They are so focused on the daily work-life that there is no chance of real change. They are distracted from the bigger picture of life by the fact that they may or may not have adequate food, or they want to send their son to school. If you really want to get Marxist, you could talk about the man supressing the masses with the opiate of factory work, but that may offend some viewers.

This cycle is designed to supply the gluttonous needs of developed countries. They work to clothe us, feed us chocolate and coffee, keep our stockings filled with colourful toys, and the Dollar Store business flourishing. The only time they'll have access to the junk we buy (I do it too, I know...) is when they get it in a shoebox at Christmas time (or usually Ramadan, by the time it gets to them).

I don't think this means that they stop manufacturing products. But it should be done in a manner similar to what we in the developed world expect and demand. I don't care who you are, the working conditions that we see on TV every now and again are not acceptable for human beings.

It is better to have a job than to not have a job. It's better to have an education than to not have an education, but can't homeschooling be better? The question is what is better, no what is going to make things turn out OK. Boycotting companies that use inequitable manufaturing is impossible, so I don't even think that's part of the question. But accepting the way things are in the underdeveloped world because we need stuff or because we're divinely appointed to be smarter and have better jobs is ridiculous. Children shouldn't be working in factories.

If it's not OK for your child, it's not OK for any child.

Didn't I start this post by talking about scrapbooking? Good thing I support not boycotting cheap manufacturing...