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Who are the greedy ones (ode to Primark)?

by gerrypopplestone | January 17, 2009 at 06:52 pm

624 views | 24 Recommendations | 5 comments

Who are the greedy ones?

Is it the young shop-aholics,

Who go to Primark every Saturday to meet their friends,

Try on the clothes, have a laugh and buy some gear?

Only to discard them in their trash bins, once they've worn them three times or more!

Is it Primark's managers,

Anxious to fulfil their targets so they can keep their jobs or get promotion?

Or are the wicked ones the directors of the firm,

Who know that Walmart (Asda in Britain) or Peacocks (another low price outfit), or even Tesco's will beat them to it,

With rising sales and bigger profits, if they don't watch out.

Is it the small 'sweatshop' operators in Tamil Nadu,

Or Kerala; in New Dehli or Mumbai?

They only want a decent meal each day;

Somewhere for their babies to rest their heads.

Is it the little kids in Dharavi, with nimble fingers

Who sew the beads on finished dresses?

They are born to a life of toil, searching for work

To help their families survive each day.

Perhaps it's those wicked Sri Lankan factory owners?

Who push the Singalese girls really hard.

They know there are millions of unemployed outside the factories of Beijing!

Waiting for the juicey contracts they could lose, so these Chinese can get inside.

Is it the hungry villagers in West Africa,

Who've never seen a sweatshop in their lives,

Who still believe in millenium cargo cults,

But missed out when the facories went to Morratuwa, outside Colombo, instead.

Is it the small time investors in Primark's parent company (ABF)?

They keep their nest eggs, just in case, for the next.... rainy day!

Or perhaps the big investors: is it them?

The Pru (Prudential Assurance) or the Norwich Union?

They supply the 'dosh' to British retirees holding private pensions.

By British law, they must seek the highest returns.

Or are these greedy people

Just ordinary people like you and me?

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Paschen

at 19:27 on January 17th, 2009

Not bad at all. A good Sunday read and reminder. :)

Amy Judd

at 19:33 on January 17th, 2009

Nice piece Gerry

gerrypopplestone

at 19:48 on January 17th, 2009

I'll NEVER make it as a poet!

You and I can see too well,

This kind of stuff will never sell!

Fripouille

at 02:48 on January 18th, 2009

Nice post this!!

"Your comment to Amy on po et ry

Makes you as bad at it as me!"

More please, and thanks.

jazzyzazzy

at 18:13 on March 22nd, 2009

sweat shops are still rife. JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT THE BIG BONUSES THE DIRECTORS OF SUCH COMPANIES ARE ON.GREED REARS IT UGLY HEAD EVERYWHERE. The shops are like life,three markets,premark for the working class and those on benefits cheap and cheerfull Next Marks and Spencersi s middle market for middle classes that can afford a wee bit more,Then right at the top of the market we have the designer mob.people are exploited every second of every day by the big guys,who often turn out to be small! really.