January 08, 2006

I fired up the reciprocal saw after breakfast and cut back dead branches on most of the cedars on our property. The tree service comes tomorrow to take out a few trees and grind the remaining stumps. Shortly after that, the gazebo will be delivered. It's being built by a Mennonite community near Smithville dedicated to quality craftsmanship.

Before heading out to run some errands and seeing Brokeback Mountain, I brought in a smaller cedar branch to show Vince the deep red pith and how it can be whittled down. We then added Buck Knives to our shopping list.

The packaging for the Buck Knives was kinda surprising. We got them because I always remembered my grandfather carrying one. They were high quality, American made, and often passed along from father to son. The ones we bought from Wal-Mart were not likely the same kind, although it was made by the same Buck family. Unlike my grandfather's Buck Knife, this one was made in China.

That's right. Most of the products sold at our local Wal-Mart Supercenter are made in China. On a closer look at the inside packaging for our new Buck Knives, I could not believe the audacity and ignorance of the Buck family considering this very fact. Take a look at this:

"Now that you are family, you might want to know a little more about our organization. The fantastic growth of Buck Knives, Inc. was no accident. From the beginning, management determined to make God the Senior Partner. In a crisis, the problem was turned over to Him, and He hasn't failed to help us with the answer."

No, it wasn't an accident at all. And what was God's supposed solution for the Buck family? Shipping jobs to a communist country that suppresses and jails Christians so the Buck family can make more money.

What an outrage. I called Charles Buck and left him a voicemail expressing what a disgrace to the Christian faith it was to not employ more God-fearing Americans to build the quality knife I remember as a kid. I think most Americans are willing to pay for real American values, not values that make outrageous and fraudulent claims that God is a partner in the outsourcing of American jobs to China.

I don't expect to hear back from him.