I hate brand name tags...

I hate brand name tags in clothing. They give me problems because they are scratchy and unpleasant. When I had ruined the new T-Shirt the other day and then peppedit up with a few sew-on-sew-off squares,  I thought I would be done with this topic for a little while at least. But I bought a new summer dress last week, and that, too, had tags in a very uncomfortable location.

And although I was particularly careful this time, the tag was so severely attached to the inner lining that despite my ability with the thread picker I could not remove it without again doing damage. 

That made me really mad. It’s on the inside, and I haven’t bothered to fix it - but am thinking about how to go about. Iron on something from the back of the inner layer, then lightly stitch around it, but it must not be too noticeable, because otherwise I might just as well have left the original tag there.What's the use of attaching these stupid tags - on the inside to begin with, so severely that they cannot be removed without doing damage - wouldn't it make much more sense to give the poor people who have to sew these in some Far East factory a good job...?

We still haven’t heard from District administration about the work permits for the students from Senegal… having to wait is getting unbearable. And although summer is here, the sun is shining, teaching is fun and rewarding, and I see how impressively their improvements in language skills are showing, my mood is a bit on the down side. Germany’s performance with deportations is appalling, our treatment of people as unwanted aliens is unworthy of a nation that once prided itself on being ‘a nation of thinkers and poets’. More and more am I feeling ashamed about being German.