Just Got Paid

It's the 22th of the month again. I've been looking forward to this date for a long time. In fact, I wait every month for this date because I get paid on this special day. Usually I reward myself for my half month of hard work as a server and go shopping , maybe buy myself some new shirts from Forever 21. But this time with a mission to be green for 28 days, I was determined not to spend my money on the things that I don't need. Even though I was very attempted to do otherwise after today's class. But from reading this week's assignments I had better ideas about counterfeiting products and sweat shops. I understood we are very privileged of those things we do have, and for those we don't have, there is no need to waste money on the unnecessary costs. Our project saved me nearly a hundred bucks because today I would have spent about one fourth of my paid check on some thing that I don't really ever need.
In "Forever In Trouble?" Chuck Qyun described the situation of Forever 21 owners and their garment workers. I understood that only one simple shirt that maybe sells for about ten dollars is created by many workers' unappreciated and completely underpaid work. Workers like Forever 21's have very poor working conditions and they get paid so little for what they do. It is absolutely horrifying to remind myself about how much of those goods I have consumed in the past have really been building a money making machine that hurts workers worldwide. And of course, how careless I was about those very same issues mentioned.
Also, connecting information from lecture, "Knockouts of Knock offs", and "Forever In Trouble", I understand how counterfeiting products can really hurt companies, designers and especially workers. Melissa Decker in her article talked about the counterfeiting issues around the world. I couldn't help myself from digging through my old bags and pulling out fake LV bags I have purchased a couple years ago when visiting China. Maybe I was embarrassed, I have never worn it before but now I truly understand its global costs. It's been sitting in the darkest spot in my closet still to this day. Today, I finally had the courage to toss it away along with my leftovers from yesterday.
It's never to late to change a bad habit. I dearly hope during these 28 days of being green and actually caring about something relevant to our society, my life, and the lives of others will make me a better person and hopefully, I will have made some sort of impact. And finally, I am very proud about my decisions made today and I hope to continue achieving my goals.



Sincerely,
Cheryl He Tang