Understanding your action

Jimmy Carter and Costco
Book signing events hurting membership

Saturday morning began no different than any other for my father. He went over to his apartment complex office to put money on the laundry card knowing full well my mother would have him do the weeks laundry that morning.

When arriving at the office he saw that the shopping club Costco had set up a table to sign up new members. The woman at the table asked my father if he wanted to learn more about Costco and see if a membership was right for him. My dad kindly replied, "I am a member of Sams Club, I don't know much about your company, but I still have a very bad taste in mouth when last year you guys held a book signing event with Jimmy Carter at your Glenview location."

"Sir, your not the only one upset about that event," the Costco representative said. "We are still feeling the backlash of that book signing. We have had people cancel their membership and often I can't get people to even talk to me because of that event."

Last year Costco sponsored book signing events at several of their stores nationwide with former President Jimmy Carter. Carter, who is a powerful anti-Israel voice and some say blatant anti-Semite, signed copies of his book, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid at several stores, including the Glenview, Illinois location.

The Glenview store serves a large Jewish population, many are self-loathing Progressives who agree with Carter, but to even my surprise, many in this majority Democrat area have realized that Carter is no friend of the Jewish people and a representative of the dwindling support of Israel coming from the Democrat Party.

This reminds me, I have to renew my Sams Club membership.


Why I Support Outsourcing
Can't hire people who don't speak English or want to work for a living

Liberals and even some ignorant conservatives often complain about corporations outsourcing jobs overseas. During a time in our nations history that unemployment is under 5% and home ownership is at an all time high, wouldn't it make sense to ask if outsourcing is really a bad idea?

The fact is politicians mostly on the left use outsourcing as a political rallying cry. The reality is that sending lower wage jobs to other countries permit corporations to save money, expand operations and create additional higher wage jobs.

It is troubling that when calling a customer service phone number you will get you a fake name answering the call in India or another far east country. Accents are thick and hard to understand, but at least they speak English and they are genuinely trying to give you adequate customer support. Do we always get that in the United States...No!

If you live in an urban area, when was the last time you got adequate customer service at a fast food drive-thru? When was the last time you got a smile and a hello at the grocery store check out line? It's been a while hasn't it?

In Chicago these are not minimum wage jobs. Illinois already has a minimum wage of $7.50 an hour, but I recall back in the late 1990's, McDonald's and KFC posting help wanted signs with starting pay of $7.50 an hour. So once again why doesn't anyone speak English or care about the customer.

The fact is that America or at least urban America has an immigrant population that refuses to learn English and believes the government should take care of them. Watch a McDonald's drive-thru and be amazed how many times customers need to repeat their order because the person on the other end only knows key words, not English.

Two weeks ago it was late at night with two cars in line and it took me twenty minutes to get a large diet coke. When I came up to the window, the barely English speaking employee was putting coke in my cup. When he handed it to me, I questioned him, but he kept saying "diet it diet." I tasted it in front of him to his surprise and confirmed I was right and he knew it. Nevertheless, he still insisted it was diet. He undoubtedly didn't care and sadly too many of his fast food industry colleagues have the same attitude.

Obviously not every immigrant worker has a bad attitude, performs poorly and doesn't speak the language. Unfortunately the same work ethic that was instrumental in the success of immigrants who came to the United States during the late 19Th and early 20Th century is no longer prevalent. Today free health care, education and tax-payer funded social programs are the rationale for too many people who come to America. The idea of working hard to obtain the American dream is a forgotten idea by many.

Can you really blame them? Why work hard when Uncle Sam and John Q Taxpayer will take care of you?

Can't blame corporations for looking outside the United States for good employees when they are competing in a service oriented environment.

Paulie