It was $20 for a dress at H&M.
The store's location in New York City was between 86th Street and 2nd Avenue. Seizing this bargain, my older sister bought the dress, took it home, tried it on and then realized there was a miniscule hole underneath the armpit. Back she went to that same H&M to return the dress, in which, in everyone's clear vision, the employee cut the hole so large the entire sleeve almost fell off.
The hole could have easily been sewn back up. But that isn't how H&M functions, or shall I say, functions anymore.
H&M deliberately cuts holes in their unsold clothing before tossing it in the trash. Not only that, but they throw away brand-new, unsold clothing straight in the bin, according to a Jan. 7 Albany Times Union fashion blog called 'On the Edge.'
Forget about those who are living on the street in the brutal winter with no gloves. Forget about those who cannot afford to buy clothing. Forget about those parents who have been laid off from their jobs and can't afford to buy their children coats and long-sleeved shirts.
And it's not only H&M who was getting away with ripping up their clothes so those in poverty cannot take them to wear. Walmart was also tearing holes in their clothing, then trashing it.
Great. So now because clothing stores don't want people in poverty to wear their clothing, they're resorting to demolishing new clothing? Clearly it's common knowledge that people in poverty are supposedly not worthy of wearing such high-trend clothing.
These stores were getting away with this injustice until Cynthia Magnus, a graduate student at the City University of New York, took notice. Magnus' discovery was written about by Jim Dwyer in a Jan. 6 City Room blog on The New York Times' Web site.
Magnus had taken notice of piles upon piles of torn clothing from the H&M on West 35th Street. She took action and attempted to contact the H&M headquarters, which is located in Sweden. No response. And so she contacted The New York Times, who did notice this injustice and took action.
An H&M spokeswoman claims that the practice of ripping clothing, then trashing it, was not a common trend at H&M. A spokeswoman also claimed that Walmart usually donates their clothing.
Tell me why, if this H&M spokeswoman said it's only this one store in New York City that proceeded to take this action, my sister encountered the same response from a different H&M in New York?
As of now, both Walmart and H&M are both going to 'continue' donating their unsold clothing to charities.
This silly action may seem like nonsense, but it says a lot about American values. The American Dream represents this idea of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and doing anything and everything to work your way up toward success, even if that means stomping on others to get there.
Culturally, I would say, after traveling across Europe and meeting people from different parts of the world, America doesn't really care about the individual person. We are not a country of friendship, rather we are a country of everyone seeking independence. How many times do people blow one another off because a different commitment gets in the way? How many people have I met at Ball State University who continually talk down to me as though I am inferior because they feel they have a higher position than me? How many Americans become workaholics and spend less and less time with their family?
All these values impact stores like H&M and Walmart, who, until they were called out, were purposefully not giving their clothes to those in poverty because they didn't want someone below them to represent their label; they simply didn't care if those in poverty were freezing. These stores don't care about the individual person - they care about making money and maintaining a reputable name for themselves.
America needs to rethink its values if we're resorting to purposefully not helping others.
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