No, you didn't. You asked a legitimate question about these events. We're good.
My post was more of a preventive strike for everyone reading the thread, knowing how these threads tend to go. Too often they devolve into "
I want a better discount" "
Where's my free stuff" and "
I canceled my order because the shipping was too high". These events aren't about those things, no matter how many times it's explained.
I'm as cheap as the next guy (cheaper, really), but I try to buy at least one item during these events (whether I need it or not) just to add my support. You don't need to spend a months pay, your one item added to my one item added to another member's item can add up to a Statement. During one of our events, the backup of orders was so great that the manufacturer had to pay overtime to get the order filled. Another manufacturer had to hire more people. And Epstien's not only had to hire more help to process the orders, but in one event we were able to bump them up from a lower tier SK vender, all the way up to a top tier SK vender. Resulting in a better profit margin for a small US family owned business that supports it's local economy.
We created jobs ! The power of the collective, wielded in the right direction, can be truly Awesome !
That is really cool! I am happy to join in.
FWIW, I didn't grow up hearing "Buy American." My Dad wasn't a guy to work in the shop. I didn't grow up working on cars or remodeling the house. My dad likes to play. I was always involved in sports, and if I didn't have a game, we were up in the mountains backpacking. We had a lot of fun but I would have been more prepared for adulthood with some of the nitty gritty as well. I am now in my mid 40's and finally doing something I love, doing building maintenance and working towards becoming a building engineer. I have finally come to a place where my tools matter, and what I have found in regards to tools is not what I expected it to be.
Our shop has 12 engineers, 5 maintenance techs, 4 electricians, 2 plumbers, and a locksmith. The older guys have good ol' boys tools, lots of American made stuff from the past. A lot of old names like Craftsman, Proto, Williams, Armstrong and Wright. And they all have drawers full of neat stuff...punches and tap & dies, chisels, homemade and self-engineered tools that they created to do a specific task for which there was no tool designed.
The younger guys are the opposite. Their tools are flashy. They are shiny and new, they look pretty and they come in perfect little sets. Underneath the pretty polish are cheap materials. They are not built to last, and the kids don't care. I hear them say it all the time..."Why would I spend good money on tools when I can just buy the cheap **** and take it back when I break it? They all have the same warranty." Probably once a week one of them gets to play show and tell with a crappy tool that failed him.
I don't really fit the mold. I am middle aged, and have a lot of admiration for the older guys...some of them are like the dad or the shop teacher I never had. I have taken to buying good American tools, a lot of them are vintage, and I spend more money on them than the rest of the crew combined I think. The cool thing is, at lunchtime the young guys see me looking at stuff on Ebay and they have started to come over and check out what I am buying, and asking questions. They always say the same thing, "Dude, I can't believe you are just shelling out that kind of money for tools!" And I always answer the same way, "Yeah, well, you never see me doing show and tell with my broken tools do you?"
The current young generation only knows disposable. We shake our heads because they don't get it...but it is all they know. They were not here to see when Grandpa was a young man and had a shop full of tools that would last a hundred years, when every boy took shop class and had basic mechanical skills, when you had to lube the chassis and oil came in steel cans and you actually fixed things rather than being a parts replacer. So they see no reason why their tools should be any different. That being said, I think anyone who is in a mechanical trade - automotive/industrial, etc - at some point will find value in having a great tool for the job. Me, I buy American when I can, and my tool is a good tool.
) to companies that support the US economy and workers. They are not about getting.