Is It the Shoes?

Please let me take you back for a moment to the summer of 1988. I was preparing to enter eighth grade. As everyone remembers, that is a really tough and ackward time for young teenagers. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out exactly who we were and where we fit in. It just so happens that at that particular time Nike had quite recently come out with the Air Jordan line of shoes. Anyone who was anyone had a pair. It was an amazing phenominom. All you had to do was show up to school on the first day with a pair of "Jordans" on your feet and you were immediately respected and looked at as one of the cool kids - or so it seemed to me at least.

Anyway, I was absolutely convinced that I NEEDED a pair of those shoes. I vividly remember going to Foot Locker at Fashion Place Mall to pick out that year's school shoes. My mom had no idea what she was in for. I passed over every pair and immediately set my sights on the Jordans, the holy grail of shoes. My mom took one quick look at the price tag and emphatically took her stance. $130 was just way too much to spend on a pair of shoes (or so she thought). As you probably can imagine, 45 minutes later (after a lot of complaining, wheeling, dealing, and begging) I lost the battle and had to settle for a pair of British Knights. It was either wear those or go barefoot.

Now that I am older and wiser (or at least I pretend to be) I can clearly understand why my mom did what she did and I don't think I suffered too much emotional anguish. However, when I recently came across a company that was selling the Nike Air Jordan IV, I had to make the purchase, if for nothing else than to exorcise the deamons of the past. I got such a good deal (they had a very limited supply and luckily had some in my size) that I got myself two pairs! Now honestly, do I really need two new pairs of basketball shoes? Absolutely not. But it sure makes me want to put them on and take a stroll down the halls of that middle school again. Respect me!