Bush’s Trip to Japan

With the end of President Bush’s trip to Japan to seek progress on what Americans feel is unfair trade, I am reminded of the real issue by my disposal of my American car earlier this month.

My story starts toward the end of the ‘30s when my brother was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his new Japanese bicycle (cost $8). When the beautifully painted new bicycle was delivered to our rural box out by the road, my brother was ecstatic. He got on the bike and began riding it up our dirt driveway. After about 50 feet, it broke completely in two.

In the mid-’80s, I was feeling flush and bought a status car long identified as the finest in American engineering. Cost new: $24,000. It too was beautifully painted. It did not just break in two, but it did require major expenditures several times between each “regular maintenance checkup.” Recently we discovered so many necessary repairs (including a new engine at 65,000 miles) that I just gave it away to a charity. The original paint job was still marvelous.

From $24,000 to zilch in less than eight years. Our new car is much higher quality than my brother’s bicycle, although from the same country of origin.

FLOYD OLIVER

Los Angeles