Today’s Chicago Tribune contained an article entitled, Hazy feelings about masks settle over China like smog. Air pollution in China’s industrialized areas is epic, lasting days on end. In Beijing, about 150 companies have either halted or curbed production to cut emissions and the state-run Xinhua News Agency is reminding people to avoid outdoor activities and to wear masks. And yet few people go out of their way to protect themselves.

An 84-year-old man, exercising in a park, says rather philosophically, “China has 1.3 billion people, fighting these kinds of environmental problems will take a long time . . . . When Mao was alive we didn’t have any time off . . . all in all this isn’t bad.”

Go figure! Apparently, everything is relative. But, if you’re here in the United States and waiting for goods produced in one of those Chinese factories, your customers will likely show little or no patience. They just want, what they want, when they want it.