When I was younger I used to be obsessed with ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.’ I had the toys, the video games, the lunchbox ‘ I even had a Ninja Turtles-themed birthday party where everyone wore costumes (it was the best party an 18-year-old could ask for). So when I heard about a toy made in China that turns into a date-rape drug after being ingested, I began to wonder if my toys try to get lucky with me during nap time.

When I hear the word ‘beads,’ I automatically think of small round balls that could easily get lodged in nostrils and be swallowed by a human. So naturally it makes sense to use them in a toy for young children. Known as Aqua Dots in the United States and Bindeez in Australia, the toy is a craft kit that allows the creation of designs with small beads of various colors. In other words, it’s boring. It’s nowhere near as fun as Hungry Hungry Hippos or Rock’em Sock’em Robots (I call dibs on the blue robot), yet it was still voted as ‘Australian Toy of the Year,’ which is the equivalent of a gold star in kindergarten.

Earlier this month, two children, a two-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, became seriously ill after ingesting a large number of beads. A similar case happened in the United States (I’m guessing they’re cousins). The toy was supposed to contain 1,5-pentanediol, but instead it contained 1,4-pentanediol. When 1,4-pentanediol is consumed, it turns into gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), a popular date-rape drug. Sidebar: If any of you ladies meet a shady-looking guy who wants to play Aqua Dots with you, you should run.

Now, I’m probably not the best person to give advice about how to run a business, but I’m pretty sure poisoning your customers is not the way to go (unless you’re in the child date-rape business ‘ I’m sorry, I feel dirty after that joke). In an effort to cut costs and maximize profits, Australian company Moose Enterprise outsourced its manufacturing jobs to China (since everything else is made there). Instead of making sure all the regulations are met and guidelines are followed, the company pays the lowest wage possible to its workers and does not properly train them. The workers are told what button to press or what lever to pull, but are not educated on how to spot a mistake. Although it’s easy to blame the company and the Chinese manufacturing workers ‘ and they should be blamed ‘ it’s not entirely their fault.

With the overwhelming competition in the United States domestic market, foreign outsourcing is a necessity for any big corporation to survive. It makes sense for executive board members to decide they want to make their products for the least amount of money while selling them at top dollar. However, in the midst of all that money-grubbing, all the little things go right out the window.

Customer safety and service are no longer priorities, as they are replaced by speedy home delivery and easy payment options. Have you ever tried calling that toll-free customer service number to find out what’s wrong with your laptop and the next thing you know, you’re listening to some dude in India complaining about your thick American accent? Maybe that’s just me.

I understand the economy is constantly changing and in order to survive, one must adapt, but sometimes I feel that these multimillion-dollar corporations no longer view the customer as an individual, but as one giant bag of cash (or in my case, a humbling pouch of change).