PHOTO: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1276/868518932_b245596a7c.jpg?v=0
The story out of New York City this week about new clothing purposely ruined and dumped into the trash behind major retailers H&M and WalMart would be disturbing at any time, but coming so close to Christmas, the season of giving, and in the middle of a frigid winter makes it all the more upsetting. Graduate student,Cynthia Magnus, found bags of new clothes purposely slashed and made unwearable behind both H&M and WalMart earlier this week.
I am not the only blogger or journalist to express outrage, but the deeper reality is even more upsetting: These are not isolated events; they are not new; they are not limited to clothing stores.
Venting my distress to a friend elicited this story: “Oh, I used to work at a discount store in Kentucky, one of those that sold lots of things for just a dollar. I was told to destroy all kinds of things. If dishes didn’t sell, I had to break them. I shredded curtains, and cut up clothes. We were watched, and if we didn’t do it, we would have been fired. On days when we knew no one from the company would be watching, we just threw things out without destroying them. But we had to be careful. One day, a man came in. He was freezing. He had no coat or anything. I used my discount and bought him a coat and gloves and a hat. I wasn’t supposed to do that, but I couldn’t let him go out with nothing.”
She went on: “They just claimed it as a loss. I don’t know why they couldn’t have donated it somewhere so people could use it. They could have taken that off for charity.”
I shook my head. I am sure this happens everywhere, everyday. The discarded clothes end up in landfills instead of on someone’s back. The companies’ intention to claim a loss reminded me of another incident when corporate greed won out over compassion and care for others.
A young graduate student was soon to fly to Europe for study. She had purchased an airline ticket to see her mother before leaving for a year. Two days before the flight to see her mother, her beloved grandmother died. The student bought a plane ticket and attended the funeral. Then, she attempted to change the date on her previously purchased ticket to see her mother for a shortened visit before she left for the year.
“Impossible.” “No. If you can wait a few weeks you can apply to fare to another ticket.” In three weeks she would be in Germany. No one at the airlines, no matter how far up the line of command she went, would allow her to use the ticket and change the date, even if she paid a late fee. In desperation she said to a manager, “Wouldn’t you rather sell the seat at a lower price than fly with it empty?”
The man almost laughed. “Oh, we won’t have to pay for it. We just claim it as a loss at full price. It won’t hurt us.”
True, destroying clothing and throwing it away a block or two away from a homeless in the middle of one of New York’s coldest winters seems more callous and immoral that refusing to let a student pay a fee to reschedule a flight that was unusable because of grandmother’s funeral. Still, some thing is the same: Greed. Making the most for the company with no regard for justice or moral responsibility.
These are the realities that come to mind when I hear someone suggest that we should allow businesses to regulate themselves when it comes to pollution or fair wages. This is what I think of when someone suggests that we give health insurance companies the benefit of the doubt and give them the chance to “do the right thing,” as if they haven’t had that chance for years.
The bottom line speaks the loudest, and that dirty laundry was hung out for everyone to see this week in a shameful discovery by a student.
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