Food for thought

 In a strange article (Toronto Star, 18/June/11) entitled "Take This Job and Shove it – to Asia", Heather Mallick writes how much she admires workers such as 15 year-old Chinese worker Yufeng who works in a factory making bra underwires by placing 57 steel bands into a heating machine. She is such a human dynamo that she earns 80 cents per hour, double the minimum wage. Then there is Caitlin Kelly, 53, who wrote a book, "Malled" where she tells her story of working two days a week in a suburban mall, then as a waitress for $2.43/hour plus tips. Kelly, according to Mallick is a 'mean-eyed, Class-A malcontent who resents people with more money. Kelly finally winds up at a Walmart that she considers as a hazard and was in no way going to risk her life climbing the high shelves in a poorly lit stockroom for $11 per hour. I think the whole point of the article is to contrast the stoic tornado Yufeng with the lazy and insolent Kelly who earns fifteen times as much. Are we supposed to dumb our jobs down to Chinese standards? Capital would love it but why would another worker, Mallick, be so supportive? After all, they could hire Chinese journalist for 80 cents per hour! John Ayers