Letters to the editor: U.S. manufacturing industry gone

U.S. manufacturing industry gone

My tennis shoes were looking a little raggedy, so I went shopping over the tax-free weekend.

My main criteria was that my new shoes be made in the USA and not fluorescent purple or pink (actually just a plain ol’ white pair of tennis shoes).

I went to numerous stores, but not one of them carried any tennis shoes made in the USA.

I asked people who worked in the stores whether they had any shoes that were made in the USA; about half of them looked at me like I had lost my mind.

Mind you these were young associates who don’t really remember anything being made here in the USA.

After about the sixth store, I was becoming discouraged and tried shopping on the Internet.

We found some that stated they were made in the USA by a proud union label. I thought, “Well, that is just great. I can buy from communist China or a socialist union.”

Guess what? I didn’t buy any new tennis shoes.

So if you see me in public wearing my raggedy and stained shoes, maybe we can just silently acknowledge the sad state of affairs our manufacturing industry has come to.