The Age of the Brand

I remember rather fondly when fashion as a teenager started to matter to me.  I still enjoyed the hand me downs from my cousin as what was purchased by my aunt was always fashionable.  I never had to worry about wearing out of style clothes.  One item that could never be handed down was shoes though.  I still remember going to Tom McAn shoe stores and getting my bargain shoes with my mother. Around age twelve, I began to loath going there. The shoes would be a cheap imitation of a better known brand.  They would fall apart rather easy or if they didn't I seemed to grow out of them quick enough.  Kids can be so cruel at school at times based on what you wore and I can remember ridicule from more than one other student based on my footwear.  It was nothing I could really control but it stuck with me.


One day while wearing these shoes at a friends house I happened to be swinging in a tire swing while he mowed his lawn.  I fell out of the swing while he passed me and he ran over my foot with the riding mower.  I can say I was extremely lucky I didn't loose my foot as the blade cut the sole off leaving my sock exposed.  The excuse to this day that my mother believes is that I got it caught on a barbed wire fence around my friend's property.  I explained to my mother the need to buy better shoes that would hold up to her tough son.  She obliged her son's wishes.

So when my son asked for a pair of osiris shoes, I felt the need to comply so my son didn't feel out of place or feel the need to have to make up an excuse if something occurred to his generic brand shoes.  I still buy the generic shoes from the local Wal-mart or any other store that sells them. It allows my son to help with the yard work or walk in the river as we fish.  I know he feels great though when he can go into school in the latest fashion.

And speaking of walking in the river, my friend decided to go river rafting recently down the Leigh River.  She is never short on footwear as it clutters her closet, back porch and bedroom.  I still can't understand the need of so many shoes especially when two pairs of high heels look almost exactly the same.  So when she told me she needed chacos, a type of sandal, to go rafting, I was rather perplexed.  She has easily half a dozen sandals.  Once again getting the "right foot wear", as she says, for the job matters.  And let's not forget the right brand.

Overall I have to understand this.  I have owned four pairs of different types of boots depending on what I am doing.  What you buy, including its brand, does matter in the end.  As I have grown older, it has mattered less to me what the brand was as long as the quality matched the hype.  I have to say for my son and my friend, their choices were good ones.  My son is happy and my friend enjoyed her trip.