I went to Niketown the other day to pick up some Air Jordan Olympic 6’s. I knew there was little chance of me “copping” a pair at 1pm since the store opened at 8am, but I went anyway because I had to run some errands. When I got there, there was still a line of some 40 fellas, ranging from 15-30 years of age. They were able to get a wristband to stand in line for the last remaining pairs. No soup for me.
I then walked to Footlocker and then to Champ Sports. Both places were all sold out of the $175 Jordan 6’s as well. When I asked the clerk at Footlocker what the buyer demographic is, he told me most were in high school or in their early 20’s. I told him that I was very happy to hear that so many young folks can afford $175 shoes and that I appreciated the latest bullish anecdote about the economy.
The clerk looked at me with confusion and said, “Dude, these kids don’t pay rent, don’t have a car, and don’t have to pay insurance.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Did they all buy a place in cash when they were even younger and decide to save the world by only taking public transportation?” After all, I am an avid bus rider and believe in property ownership as one way to wealth.
“No man, these kids are living at home with their parents! They are unmotivated and all they do is spend money on shoes, clothing, and these overpriced Nike Elite socks for $15 dollars!” He picked up a pair and tossed them to me.
SAY IT AIN’T SO
The clerk seemed very bitter for some reason, and I think it was because he had to come in a couple hours early on a Saturday for the Air Jordan launch. I told him that he was making presumptions about these fine young adults, and that they are probably much wealthier than he knows.
“If they don’t have money, how can they buy the shoes? Why wouldn’t they just invest the $175 in themselves instead?” I asked.
He shrugged his head and said, “Whatever. I’m telling you, these kids just live at home with their parents and will never leave. They’d much rather have the latest kicks than do something with their lives.”
Wow, what a bitter guy! And then I began to remember when I was a kid and got my first pair of second hand Air Jordans. I was ecstatic! I wore them with glee and kept them spotless clean. They were my pride and joy and nothing could make me happier.
Does being unmotivated really matter if you are happy?!
THE NON BELIEVERS
You can only buy $175 shoes if you can afford $175 shoes. When I was a teenager, I couldn’t even afford $50 shoes so I didn’t buy them! Instead, I bought hand me down Jordans from my friends for $15 bucks. Over a thousand pair of $175 Air Jordan 6’s were probably sold in San Francisco today to young men ages 15-30. They bought them because they have the money.
I talked to other friends about this scenario and they scoffed at my belief that these young adults have the money. Here were their responses:
“They probably paid with a credit card they can’t pay off.”
“They probably stole their money from somewhere.”
“They probably aren’t even going to college and are just dumb spenders.”
“They probably sell drugs.”
“They probably have bad credit scores due to late payments.”
“If they all have money, why do they all look like thugs?”
“They are all unmotivated and live with their parents. Just look at them!”
Talk about not giving them the benefit of the doubt! Just because many of them looked like “thugs” doesn’t mean that they didn’t go to a fine college, own their own homes, and make a lot of money. I was ashamed of my friends’s quick call to judgement.
SO LONG AS THEY’RE HAPPY
It doesn’t matter if you’re a 25 year old man living at home with the parents and working a $10 an hour job. If you want to spend 22 hours to pay $175 in after-tax money on a pair of Jordans, go for it! They might not be motivated to start a business, go to school, or have great careers, but who cares? They’re happy and that’s all that matters.
Personal Story: I was able to negotiate a severance package equal to six years of living expenses. Learn how to negotiate a great severance for yourself in my new book How to Engineer Your Layoff! Never quit, always get laid off so you can collect a severance, health care insurance, deferred compensation, unused vacation days, and be eligible for unemployment. If for whatever reason you do not find the book helpful, you can have a full refund.
Hmmm.. I’m not sure these young folks are necessarily “unmotivated”… Speaking as one myself -I’m 19 – I think most of these folks are in school. They may have help paying rent and insurance from their parents or may not, and even when not, there is sometimes some extra money to spend any way they would like. These guys are just fortunate enough to have that, and there is nothing wrong with splurging on something you lust after so hard once in a while. Most of them are students and probably have part time jobs or have small sources of income here and there.. we aren’t unmotivated, and certainly would not be happy being unmotivated.
Do you spend such money on material things though?
Back in high school, I spent a lot more money on expensive clothes, occasional material things and such, but since I entered college I’ve really cut it down. I actually don’t spend much on little luxuries at all now, even going out to eat, and I am back to purchasing shirts that are only twenty dollars or less (for example). It’s because I am now at stage where kids my age are more or less supporting themselves (most of us with the help of our parents), but I don’t have a part time job to receive a steady stream of income from at the moment, and I can’t spend my parents money so freely like I did before!
Nice 6’s Sam, did you end up finding a pair? I would have to say that for the most part they are happy with their purchase so they could care less what others think. As far as it being ok I have to say if they don’t change it could be bad as if they truly just spend money on 200 shoes and no savings they may always end up staying at home. But I can say that I bought my first pair of J’s when I was 10. I saved up all the money from working that summer and i was as happy as can be. Maybe they work and have nothing else to spend money on.
Great question – If it is true that they are living at home, from an economy stand point, this is a bad environment for the younger generations. More adults will work later to pay for their kids’ desires and we will have an unskilled workforce. So, yes, it does matter.
Or, perhaps there is a huge wave of pent up income waiting to get unleashed!
Wait a second Sam, some of these kids might actually be smart and using these shoes as investments! I’m sure you know how valuable some of shoes can be, and if they are kept brand new, it will definitely appreciate overtime.
I say this because I was never really into Jordan shoes in the past, but once I realized the re-sell value of the shoes, I went on a Jordan Frenzy as well, even inviting my friends to camp out with me since they are usually 1 per person. I usually sold these on eBay immediately the next day, or sometimes held on to it to see if the prices would increase. So for me, they were purely an investment tool during my college years 🙂
I am always shocked by the silly prices I see the same day on Craigslist. They never get them!
OK, so you buy em for $175, and sell them for $200-$220. There is much better things to do than go through all that hassle for $25-45!
But, if you had fun Kevin, I’m glad!
I agree Sam, for $25-$45 it’s definitely not worth the time. Sometimes they re-sell 75-100% higher than retail, and if you wait it out a few years, you never know how much they’ll be worth 🙂
How about this Sam, let’s revisit this post in a few years, let’s go ahead and book it on our calender and see what the value is, haha.
I would tend to agree with the clerk and your friends. Just because they bought $175 shoes (that would cover a fair percentage of all the shoes I’ve bought in my life!), doesn’t mean they could really afford $175 shoes.
I live in a trailer park. For us, it was a frugal decision where are mortage and lot rent is less than rent for a similar sized space. But I have more than one neighbor who’se car is worth more than their home. It’s all a matter of priorities. I remember my teen and early adult years; my priorities weren’t on saving money for retirement back then. They were on going out to eat with friends.
Donno Edward. You can’t spend $175 for shoes if you don’t have $175 right?
Many of the buyers are ages 20-30. But I hear you on priorities. Up until 20 years old, I didn’t care about saving much b/c I didn’t have much. But that also meant I didn’t buy those shoes b/c I couldn’t!
I guess it falls down to the definition of “can afford.” Can you afford something if you have the cash today, but after buying it, you can’t make your cell payment? I know a guy who “can afford” going out to smoke hookah 3-4 times per week but “can’t afford” his car insurance, or cell phone, or even food sometimes.
I’m sorry, how is motivation tied to the type of shoes you buy????
These kids are teens/early-twenties. Give them a break!
Indeed! The Footlocker salesman and my friends are way too pessimistic to say they are unmotivated and don’t have money to spend on $175 shoes.
Give the kids a break. If they got the money and are happy, spend away!
I never understood the fascination with expensive things like sneakers because they wear out. Aside from that, There seems to be a fascination with celebrity and designer names. People are willing to pay for it even though they cannot afford it.
When I was growing up, rich people never wanted to show their labels, now that is all you see.
I have a close friend who is probably the least motivated guy I know. As well as the happiest. He does not strive for things, he does not stress about things, heck, he doesn’t even pack for vacation — his wife does that for him! I say search for your happy, and everyone’s definition is different. Perhaps working at Foot Locker is not the clerk’s definition of happy. Nor would it be mine.
Bingo! No motivation = happiness! When we stop caring about getting better or progressing with whatever it is we are doing, we become happier. Thanks for the example!
I was definitely way more materialistic as a teen and in my early 20s and I think some of that was due to confidence issues. Teens judge each other a lot based on appearances and what they do and do not own. It’s so immature looking back now but many people never grow out of this “phase” nor does it seem to be going away with younger generations. But I do remember how exciting it was to get anything new growing up and I’m sure at least some of the people you saw were spending money they’d earned on their own.
I agree with the comments on people not being happy long term if they stay unmotivated and people not being truly happy if they are completely unmotivated. If their only motivation is to earn enough to buy shoes, they may be happy now but that’s not going to last when the rent, food, utilities, and healthcare bills start rolling in.
It was SO fun to work, work, work, to then finally be able to afford those pair of Armani Jeans with the copper eagle on the butt pocket. I remember just loving them, even though I made jack shit. I cherished them forever and bought a second hand pair b/c I couldn’t afford new. I was happy! Ecstatic!
Now, I can afford a lot of things, but none of the material things bring me close to the happiness I got as a kid. I do love the retro Jordans and the old He-man figurines for $8 each. They bring back great nostalgia and happiness now. HOwever, anything else.. be it a 2013 3 series BMW coupe, fancy shoes, watches, clothes, NOTHING gives me that type of happiness.
Really only adventures now.
Wow, those are some negative responses to a simple question!
When I was a teenager (I’m in my 20s so not that long ago), I started working at 15 and haven’t stopped since. So yes, I’d buy expensive stuff, with my hard earned money. I don’t know that buying shoes is an indication of unmotivation. Almost all teens need to have jobs these days, and we can’t jump on these kids without knowing them for being unmotivated.
But, I think being motivated is partly what makes one happy – without motivation, people aren’t really happy. On the flip side, if you’re not happy, you’re not motivated. That’s my theory. So then, what I’m trying to say, is I’ve never met somebody truly happy that is also unmotivated.
Well, maybe it’s because the folks in line didn’t exactly look like folks you’d want to walk by in a dark alley. I don’t know. But, I’ve learned never to judge a book by its cover. Imagine all the luxury car salespeople who used to shrug off 25 year olds when they walked in….. now they know many of them can pay $100,000 cash for cars now thanks to the internet boom.
It really depends on how you define being able to afford them. If you mean having some method of purchasing them then yes everyone who bought them could afford them. If you think everyone who bought them had emergency funds and are saving for retirement I think you would be mistaken. I don’t judge why they spend money the way they do but I would rather spend the money elsewhere personally.
I think you can be happy and unmotivated with the exception that it will ultimately make you unhappy later down the road when you realized what you are missing out on because of the previous unmotivatio.
The happiest people could very well be the most unmotivated people. With no motivation, nothing little if anything can disappoint them.
Lack of disappointment is an incomplete definition of happiness, or the state of happiness.
What is happiness but cupcakes and unicorns?
I believe it’s next to impossible to be happy *and* unmotivated.
Hmmmm, everywhere I looked, these guys spending $175 for a pair of shoes looked really happy to me! Some are even selling them for $200-$230 on Craigslist/Ebay for a $25-$55 profit after spending three hours waiting. Big bucks!