The highway in front of our old store is quiet, barren pavement. The big trucks that used to haul the world's finest furniture are no where to be seen. It is 3:30 in the afternoon and where there was once traffic so thick you couldn't fit your driver's license between the cars, now there is not even a lone traveler.

The factories along this stretch of Highway 18 South in Lenoir, North Carolina, stand as silent sentinels to over one hundred years of furniture making. They carry the memories of multi-generations of families who depended on folks named Broyhill and Kincaid to give them steady employment. Now, the factories' silence is a slap in the face to over 5,000 workers whose jobs are now done in China.

It started approximately 5 years ago, when furniture workers started coming into our store, telling us they would receive no Christmas bonus that year. Usually, after the International Furniture Market was held in High Point, in October and April, the workers managed double shifts, adding extra hours. They were rewarded in July with bonuses and extra paid time off. But, we started hearing there would be no after-market hour increase and then no bonus in July and then they were asked to take that extra week unpaid.

Little by little the jobs began to leave for Asia. Slowly, the layoffs began, and like a snow ball gaining momentum down a mountain, the numbers increased and became headline news.

From inside the store we watched the flow of traffic on Highway 18 South as it trickled like a stream that would soon dry up. We began our own cut backs. We began our own layoffs. We began to get scared.

The air is clear of factory smoke. The smell of varnish has vanished as have we. The move to China caused us to move to a neighboring town, a town where there are jobs.

But, like the factory workers who have disappeared into the community college to scramble for the education they never needed and into Wal-Mart, and supermarkets, and McDonald's, and anywhere they can find a job, we are starting over too.

What does "made in China" mean to me. It means the selling out of America.  It means America and Americans lose, while China wins, even while a few Americans sit back and pride themselves on taking care of their bottom line. Like a line of dominoes, the decision to take our business to China has created a chain reaction that affects everyone.