Rexnord worker as jobs leave for Mexico

As a kid, she'd hated buying groceries with her mother, ashamed of the food stamps they had used. In adulthood, Shannon liked the ritual of consumption. She'd never felt much like the citizen of a democracy. "People like us," she said, "aren't heard." But her job had transformed her into a conumer of things--another respected role in American society. She had achieved a status: the kind of person who buys Heinz ketchup instead of the generic brand.

Shannon, who'd derived her self-worth from the quality of the bearings she made, felt unsure about who she'd become.

New York Times, October 15, 2017