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I'd like to know whose kids are wearing $500 jeans!
If you had a teenage girl believe me, you would know. You would be hearing about how all the other girls in school are wearing them and how much peer pressure their is on your kids to fit in. But I suppose that is not being materialistic.
What alternate reality bubble must one exist in to complain about Americans suffering in a depression in one post then point out all the kids here are wearing $500 jeans in another?
Do have a teenage girl, live in a ritzy school district, have yet to see $500 jeans on any of the kids, not sure what the heck you're talking about.
THE fashion accessory around here seems to be a $30 Vera Bradley wallet, which my daughter bought for herself, so I guess I should count myself as lucky!
I'm trying to convince my kids that the $12 jeans at Walmart arent so bad looking.. nope they gotta have those $150 designer jeans
Same goes with the shoes, $180 for a pair of sneakers!!
Whats wrong with the $20 ones at Walmart?
In the 1950s, my family's entertainment budget consisted of:
A Stromberg Carlson radio in the living room
A stack of board game boxes and jigsaw puzzled on a closet shelf
A Brownie camera
A movie a week together with a box of popcorn to pass around
My mother bought my clothes and I wore what she bought.
Dinner was home cooked, at the table with everyone else. If there was something I didn't like, I sat there until I liked it.
Last night I made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner. After we ate, we all watched "1900 House" on a DVD we borrowed from the library. This morning, my husband is in the kitchen making pancakes, his specialty, while the kids play Battleship in the family room. In a little bit, they will shovel the remaining slush from the driveway and sidewalk. Then, my daughter will sit down to study, and my husband will help our son work on Boy Scout stuff. If there's time, we'll all head for the library to stock up on reading for the week before heading to the in-laws' house for dinner. In the morning, we'll go to church. Aterwards, one or the other of the kids might invite a friend over for a couple of hours, and my husband will do a few things around the house. I'll probably do some meal planning and a little prep work to make things go smoothly during the week. We might take a walk around the neighborhood to talk and get some fresh air. Of course, we'll watch the Super Bowl tomorrow night. I can promise you that nobody is going to the mall to buy $500 jeans!
This is what my middle-class lifestyle looks like and it looks strikingly similar to the way I grew up.
Last edited by formercalifornian; 02-05-2011 at 09:44 AM..
It seems older folk are the ones who view the world as more stressful because they have to adapt a constantly and quickly changing world and they seem less able than the younger folks to do so. Granted there are always exceptions but from what I'm seeing older folk are having a hard time accepting the constant movement and change.
To a certain degree what you descibe is indeed age related. However, speaking only for myself, throughout my life I've generally not enjoyed having to change and adapt to the changes in the world around me. I've always felt more comfortable with a slower pace and a simple routine to provide the framework for my daily activities. I've never genuinely liked having to learn how to use new gadgets. Even as a 20-something, I preferred living at my own pace to that of the pace of society. It works for me.
IMO, much of the stress in our lives is self induced. We bring stress upon ourselves whenever we attempt to live our lives at the pace of society rather than adhering to our own pace. To stay in touch with my personal rhythm, I developed a technique that I call Cosmic Rhythm Attunement. My daily practice keeps me strongly in touch with my own rhythm, and it removes the temptation to live in accordance with someone else rhythm. Being out of rhythm is at the root of most dis-ease.
I live in one of the most materialistic areas of the country, yet I'm not even sure where you could buy a $500 pair of jeans. Perhaps some designer shop in Beverly Hills. The malls here are filled with your normal stores, Forever 21, Hot Topic, etc none of which sale anything close to $500 jeans.
I knew a doctor once that bragged about buying $200 jeans because it made his "butt look good", but that's the closest to $500 I've seen.
To a certain degree what you descibe is indeed age related. However, speaking only for myself, throughout my life I've generally not enjoyed having to change and adapt to the changes in the world around me. I've always felt more comfortable with a slower pace and a simple routine to provide the framework for my daily activities. I've never genuinely liked having to learn how to use new gadgets. Even as a 20-something, I preferred living at my own pace to that of the pace of society. It works for me.
The US changed more between 1900~1950 than between 1950~2000. If anything the pace of change is slowing. If you had a time machine and took someone from the 50's and placed them in today's world they wouldn't find it too different. They'd walk through your home and see the same sorts of things they know, there would be only a few new gadgets that they wouldn't know.
Anyhow, one doesn't have to use new gadgets. Computers have become a part of daily life, but computers aren't exactly new. But you can still get by without a computer.
Someday when I have kids, if any of them ever demand $100+ jeans, I'll laugh at them.
My family was a decently well off middle class family when I was a child, but most of my jeans came from places like JC Penny or Kohls. My first pair of Nike shoes (which were the shoes everyone had to have in the late 80's) were a pair my mom got at a garage sale for probably about $10. All my friends thought they were cool, though.
The US changed more between 1900~1950 than between 1950~2000. If anything the pace of change is slowing. If you had a time machine and took someone from the 50's and placed them in today's world they wouldn't find it too different. They'd walk through your home and see the same sorts of things they know, there would be only a few new gadgets that they wouldn't know.
Anyhow, one doesn't have to use new gadgets. Computers have become a part of daily life, but computers aren't exactly new. But you can still get by without a computer.
That is a very good point about the rate of change. As for living without a computer, it's definitely possible, but it's getting more and more difficult by the day.
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nope they gotta have those $150 designer jeans
