When I was growing up, we didn't have a lot of money. That meant that new clothes were a bit of a rarity. And, when you did get something new, it was almost never the same brand that all the other kids were wearing.
Up until I was in high school, each August I used to go shopping with my mother for a back-to-school "outfit." An outfit most likely meant a new shirt with color-coordinated corduroy pants. I still remember one pair of new pants that my mother picked out in one of my last elementary school years. They were Wranglers from Sears. Better yet, they were rust-colored. I think I wore them once and then stuffed them as far back in my closet as they would go. They may still be there for all that I know.
I remember another time when I needed a new pair of sneakers. This was 7th grade but I remember it vividly. At the time, everyone's sneakers were Nike's, Adidas, or Converse. I, of course, had a pair of cat-heads.
I have no idea why my sneakers were called cat-heads. I just know that's what junior high kids in Elmira called any sneakers that weren't one of those name brands. Nobody wanted to have cat-heads. But, that was my fate at the time.
Soon enough, my latest pair of cat-heads had worn through. So, my mom took me downtown one evening for a new pair of sneakers. I was determined not to get another pair of cat-heads. I couldn't imagine getting a brand new pair and sporting them in the halls of Ernie Davis Junior High School. It would have been the ultimate humiliation.
Anyway, my mom took me straight to a shoe store that sold absolutely no name-brand sneakers. I was in turmoil inside. How was I going to convince her that none of these were right? While I tried to figure that out, she had the salesperson pull a couple pairs of shiny new white cat-heads out for me to try. I sullenly began to try them on. Just as I got my first foot in, who should walk in the store but some girl from my school. I remember to this day that her first name was Laurel but I've forgotten her last name. I think it was Smith. Even if I'm wrong, you have to admit that Laurel Smith is such an Elmira name.
So, there I was. I had one foot squarely in a new cat-head. The store was so small that there was no way Laurel couldn't see me. She was with her mom. That didn't stop her from looking at me, seeing the cat-head on my foot, and loudly pronouncing "Meow."
That was it. There was no way in hell I could let my mother buy me those cat-heads. I couldn't face an entire school day of meow's from my classmates. I can't remember if I said anything or if my mom could just see the look on my face. It was probably the latter. In any event, before I knew it, we were in Harold's Army-Navy, the only cool store in downtown Elmira. My mother walked right over to the sneaker section with me and we pulled down a pair of Nike low-top canvas shoes. They were the cheapest Nike's in the store but, by God, I was going to get them. Within minutes, we were out the door, new Nike's in hand. It was at that moment that I decided that there actually was a God.
The next day, I saw Laurel in school. "I saw you trying on those cat-heads," she said with a smirk as she looked down at my new Nike's. That was it. Nothing more. She just wanted to be sure that I knew that she knew. Isn't middle school awesome?
You know, I had an entirely different story in mind when I sat down to write this. It had to do with clothes but, somehow, this came out. I'm not sure how that happened. I'll get to the other story eventually.
