dark as a dungeon, damp as the dew....

I wonder what other people think

     Specifically I wonder about workers in China, or Thailand,  or other places that produce the copious amounts of goods we consume.
     I got to thinking of that this weekend as I was putting up our Christmas trees.  We have several ornaments from Switzerland, Germany, France, Haiti and assorted European nations.
     But what do the people in China think?  After all, they are not exactly a nation that has religious beliefs that include Christmas.
     Here they are, making pennies a day, (disclaimer:  I have no idea how much they make, but I am thinking it is not much) turning out plastic and ceramic Santas.  Do they wonder what the figure represents?  Maybe they think that's how men in the USA dress for the holidays?
     What about the doggie hats, sweaters, coats and boots?  Some poor guy, one of the billions in the mass production industries, is making this doggie hat thinking, "Huh...maybe my kid could wear that.  I just don't know that the words say."
     Or some 10 year old kid hand painting a doll, (disclaimer:  I do not know for a fact that some countries employ youngsters to mass produce stuff, but I am  making a blanket stereotypically statement about every third world and developing nation) their eyes getting blurry from working 14 hour days and eating gruel....wait a minute, that's a Dickens' novel.  Sorry.  A young person painting a doll and wondering about life in our country.  There could be workers painting and assembling toys for kids their own age!
     Do they ever wonder about what our lives are like?
     We buy Christmas lights for a couple of bucks a package.  Imagine the wages those people have to be  paid to assemble and package those lights if we are only paying a couple of bucks?  They must be working for free!  Do they think, "Hmm, those Americans must have small houses to have such tiny lights." And do they intentionally put one loose wire in every fourth set to purposely drive us crazy trying to get the lights to work?  Do they think we are being extravagant and wasteful for buying the lights and putting them on a dead tree we keep in the house?
     Thinking is too much work for me.
     I am tired.
     Why?
     My dirt pile got moved today!  It no longer occupies part of the driveway.  It is now in the planter I built.
     A big thanks to Noah for his hard work, and to Debbie and Steve for sharing him with me today.
     My arm is a little stiff, but it does not throb.
     Nothing, on me throbs anymore, thank you aging process.
     But that's another story.