We love the Dollar Store!!!!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Aug 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

napaea	11 Aug 2002
:cool: I went to the dollar store this weekend (love it!) and what should I happen to find? Little japanese style faux silk bags, in green, blue, teal, with little drawstrings or flap tops. Perfect for my tarot decks!!!! for only a dollar!! Roomy enough for my good sized decks, and styles small enough for my baby ones. So now at least a few of my decks are living in happier houses than before (still need more bags though) Yay, who'd have thought the dollar store would contribute to my tarotholism? You never know where tarot will talk to you!!!

Keslynn	11 Aug 2002
I'm so jealous! Great find. :) :TQW Kes

Hummingbird	16 Aug 2002
Excellent! If you buy it at the wiccan/new age stores, they soak you!

Faerie Lin	16 Aug 2002
I need to check out the dollar store again! Great find Napaea!! Lin

Sorceress_Jade	16 Aug 2002
I got a beautiful box for that fits my Universal Waite deck from Big Lots for like 4 or 6 dollars. compared to the 13 or 16 you find elsewhere it was a steal. I love thrifty stores, they have great stuff, and you don't feel quilty about performing surgery on your items cause they were so cheap anyway. :D

jade	17 Aug 2002
i am reminded of the thread in chat about children working in third world countries making items to be sold in places like dollar stores. as i said then, we can't complain about sweat shops when we support them. ;) hmmmm, jade

napaea	17 Aug 2002
ummmm, well. can't say i've ever seen anything on sweatshops and dollar stores. the dollar stores we have here are a chain, it's called "Family Dollar Store" and really what they sell is cast offs. Like seasonal stuff that didn't go over big, new types of toothpaste that bomb. I get named brand shampoo, toothpaste, dishwashing soap, lotion, all cause they are too old to sell at a dept. store, or because they bought too much. i rather take offense to your comment, jade. i certainly am not a fan of children slavery and sweatshops. unfortuantely, most of the stores in my area don't have big signs advertising the use of or non-use of child labor, so i really don't ever know the product's origin. i was merely stating my joy of finding something useful at a frugal price. sorceress jade and hummingbird are right, most stores gouge you when you get this kind of stuff. perhaps if you are that concerned you should help to inform us of where we should or shouldn't stop instead of making it sound as though i had ever complained about this situation and then knowingly supported an evil i claimed to be against.

Faerie Lin	17 Aug 2002
As I know of it, and what I hear the dollar store sells things that other major stores couldn't sell like Napaea stated. Just like Big Lots or MacFrugals. I have to say I took offense to that too Jade. I did email them in asking where and how they got their products, of course if they do get their merchandise from sweatshops, I'm sure they won't admit it, but I'll be sure to post their response if I get one. They sell lots of name brands things, the dollar store is like "the left over store." name brand cereals, juices, cangoods ect and so on. Lin

napaea	17 Aug 2002
ooooo, another great find that same day, i forgot to mention this one! I got a CD called "tranquil spirit" and it is perfect for my yoga practice. PERFECT! it is now my fave yoga CD and i got it for a buck!! yeee hawww!

jade	18 Aug 2002
before you all bite my head off for my comments. i was referring to this thread by sam stating that he felt bad for thinking about buying some running shoes......etc etc and it got to the part about all those little items that we get in dollar stores that ARE made in places where children and families are working for (edited to add: sometimes less than) minimum wages. do you really think that most of the items in your dollar store are made by employees that are paid a fair wage? yes there are some discounted items......but i've been there. i see all the little items that are not from a major shopping chain...............and i wasn't meaning to attack anyone for their purchase, i was simply bringing up the fact that we had just discussed this very topic - only a different aspect of it last time. here's the thread i was speaking about. http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5392&perpage=10&pagenumber=3 jade

Faerie Lin	18 Aug 2002
I don't think anyone was trying to bite your head off Jade. I know alot of times people get reminded of other threads when reading threads, I guess it was just the way you worded it, it wasn't quite clear, no worries. I remember that thread very well, maybe someone will post more comments on it since it was brought up again. Ok I am rambling, if anyone wants to talk about this more maybe we can start another thread or tack on to the thread jade brought up. 'Cause I really think Napaea wanted this to be a "Look at what I found at a GREAT PRICE WEEEEE!!! Thread" lol. Lin

napaea	18 Aug 2002
yeah, i pretty much was very excited about my finds, and then felt i was being criticized for purchasing these bags. personally, I never read that thread, so i had NO idea what was going on except that i was being put in a category that felt very judged. and while every one has their own convictions about issues, you simply can't control what other people do, or how much information they have. i have serious doubts that some 7 year old orphan child slave took any part in creating the CD that i bought for a dollar. but the cover IS made of plastic, which could contain essence of whale. now, do i stop buying CD's becuase of this? no. maybe i pray for the whale population. i'm simply saying, without knowing if i had this informaiton previously (which i didn't cause i never saw the thread) it is completely inappropriate to point a finger at me as though i'd broken some rule, and judge me for sharing my excitement about something.

napaea	18 Aug 2002
also, i would like to add that the items i buy from the dollar store are either name brands - coming from a manufacturing company that probably pays their employees too little, but doubtless doesn't have children working for them - or from The Dollar Tree supplier, which is in Chesapeake Bay or something like that. i'm not disputing your right to share your opinion, but wanted you to know you pretty much made me feel like dirt and rained on my thread.

Kiama	18 Aug 2002
Thse bags you got are a real bargain! Nice one! I wih I could find things tha cheap around here... Luckily though, I don't need to buy any thing to house my decks anymore, cuz I just keep them all in ther original packaging, for the collector side of them all... I know I am a bit miffe dthat I threw away the packaging for my Shakespearian deck some years ago... :( I didn't know the that it was gonna be very rare nowadays! Kiama

Sorceress_Jade	19 Aug 2002
Personally the thought of the sweatshops never really crosses my mind. But here's a question. If those companies weren't over there running those shops then those ppl wouldn't have ANY income... right?

the hermit	20 Aug 2002
here's another thought... pretty much everything produced for sale that does not go directly from the producer to the consumer exploits someone or something or both. that doesn't excuse or justify the exploitation when it occurs but... how many employers really pay their employees what they're worth? certainly none that I've ever worked for. how many share profits equitably? again none that I've worked for. how many manufacturers make sure they always use renewable resources? and how can they be sure? did that lumber company really replant twice as many trees as they cut? how many consumers do the same? and how can they be sure? what about what you eat? drink? wear? live in? sit on? drive? or ride in? I not going to knowingly support a company who employs child or slave labor, but how will I ever really be sure?

Kiama	20 Aug 2002
Hermit: You have a good point about never really being sure, but my thouhts on this is that it's better to try and do what you can, even if it's not everything... A little goes a long way, and even if one can only do a little bit towards something, it all counts... Sorceress_ Jade: The people working in such conditions may not get any income at all without those sweat shops, but wouldn't it be better off in the first place if the country didn't need[ sweatshops? On this subject, I was always taught to look at the actual root of the problem, because that is where one ismost likely to find a solution... In his case, wecould say that if the West hadn't kpt on the debt which the developing world owes, then they would be better off, and we could also say that if the world's wealth and resources were distributed fairly, this wouldn't be happening. Unfortunately these things are far from gonna happen... There will always be a few major companies who do not mind exploitation in order to get money. Just a few thoughts, nothing really to do with dollar stores. Kiama

the hermit	20 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Kiama Hermit: You have a good point about never really being sure, but my thouhts on this is that it's better to try and do what you can, even if it's not everything... A little goes a long way, and even if one can only do a little bit towards something, it all counts... You're absolutely right and I suspect that most of us and most of the world does what it can to not contribute to exploitive practices. Quote: Originally posted by Kiama [b] Sorceress_ Jade: The people working in such conditions may not get any income at all without those sweat shops, but wouldn't it be better off in the first place if the country didn't need [ sweatshops? on this subject, i was always taught to look at the actual root of the problem, because that is where one ismost likely to find a solution... in his case, wecould say that if the west hadn't kpt on the debt which the developing world owes, then they would be better off, and we could also say that if the world's wealth and resources were distributed fairly, this wouldn't be happening. unfortunately these things are far from gonna happen... there will always be a few major companies who do not mind exploitation in order to get money. [/b] Unfortunately Kiama, it's more than just "a few major companies" Capitalism is based on exploitation... of resources and people And market demand... without demand there is no market Thus, by default, we all contribute to a certain amount of exploitation. We can, as I said above, do our best to avoid it, but it's built into our world, in part because we've allowed it to be. More awareness can help, but it won't solve the basic problem. That would require a complete overhaul of the world market and that, as you point out, ain't gonna happen, at least not without a HUGE upheavel. That upheavel however, may happen someday, when things get bad enough. But I don't think I want to be around when it happens.

jade	21 Aug 2002
Quote: and i wasn't meaning to attack anyone for their purchase, i was simply bringing up the fact that we had just discussed this very topic - only a different aspect of it last time. napaea said.... Quote: i'm not disputing your right to share your opinion, but wanted you to know you pretty much made me feel like dirt and rained on my thread. napaea, i have been ill so i didn't see this thread again until today. sorry to wait so long to respond. it was not ever my intention to hurt you. i apologize to you for making you feel like mud (which is what dirt rained on would be). i send you hugs and hope you accept my heartfelt apology. jade

napaea	22 Aug 2002
thank you, i do accept. i know you're intent would not be to hurt someone, i just felt badly. but hey! that happens, and we all move on. sorry you are sick, i have been this week also. blah!

The We love the Dollar Store!!!! thread was originally posted on 11 Aug 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.