[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=unemployment+line&iid=8760291″ src=”http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8760291/job-fair-hosted-aarp/job-fair-hosted-aarp.jpg?size=500&imageId=8760291″ width=”500″ height=”337″ /] As you know if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, I don’t often let other people speak for me — in fact, I hardly let other people speak at all. But my friend Mimi forwarded me this via email, and it really touched me. Today, almost 1 in every 10 Americans is out of work — but in reality it’s more than that, since unemployment only tracks people actively looking for work. I can’t think of many things more desperate than trying to find work when there are no jobs to be had. If I can help change that by shopping a little smarter, I’m there. Here’s the email:

One Light Bulb at a Time

A physics teacher in high school once told his students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn’t slow a train very much, a billion of them would. Here’s how we can stop the avalanche of job loss in America, one light bulb at a time. [picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=unemployment+line&iid=8383828″ src=”http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8383828/report-show-private-sector/report-show-private-sector.jpg?size=500&imageId=8383828″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]

I was in Lowes the other day looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in China. Later, I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it, I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in the USA.

Start looking around— in our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else – even his or her job. My grandson likes Hershey’s chocolate. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. I don’t buy it anymore. My favorite toothpaste, Colgate is also made in Mexico; I have switched to Crest.

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=unemployment+line&iid=8771355″ src=”http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8771355/job-fair-held-veterans/job-fair-held-veterans.jpg?size=500&imageId=8771355″ width=”500″ height=”348″ /]

This past weekend I was at Kroger shopping for 60-watt light bulbs and dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand that I normally buy was an off-brand labeled “Everyday Value.” I picked up both brands of bulbs and compared the stats – they were the same, except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand – – – but the thing that surprised me most was that GE bulbs were made in Mexico and the Everyday Value brand was made by a company in Cleveland, Ohio.

So on to another aisle for Bounce Dryer Sheets . . . yep, you guessed it, Bounce costs more money and is made in Canada. The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years –at almost half the price.[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=unemployment+line&iid=8610125″ src=”http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8610125/people-wait-line-enter-the/people-wait-line-enter-the.jpg?size=500&imageId=8610125″ width=”500″ height=”319″ /]

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here. My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA. The job you save may be your own or your neighbor’s!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! (We should have awakened a decade ago.)

I passed this on . . . will you?[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=unemployment+line&iid=8470809″ src=”http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8470809/aqueduct-race-track-queens/aqueduct-race-track-queens.jpg?size=500&imageId=8470809″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]

Well, obviously I did. Although I consider myself a citizen of the world, I know you have to first take care of your own. And we can vote with our pocketbooks to influence American companies to hire American workers.

My $100 today is going to one of my favorite places to shop– and to donate American-style: Goodwill Industries of North Georgia, which provides job training and employment opportunities to people with physical, emotional, or developmental disabilities, limited job skills, poverty and other challenges … and puts them to work. It’s a wonderful organization doing great work! Click here to donate. And click here for a list of American-made products!