Carpe Datum

It Must Be the Shoes

Our 15-year-old, Justin, is on the track team during Spring semesters (cross country during Fall). Because of that, he runs a lot of miles and goes through a lot of shoes. We had a hell of a time finding the proper shoes for him. Seems like every pair we would try, no matter the price, would give him blisters. I asked the coach for some help on the matter, and he recommended a few brands such as Avia and Asics. He explicitly told us not to bother with New Balance, Saucony or Adidas.

So I went to a few stores and we eventually settled on some Avia running shoes. They were $30-$40, depending on whether there was a sale going on. He runs so many miles that we have to buy him new running shoes about every six weeks. The Avia shoes have been working fine since we started buying them for him last Fall. His latest pair is worn, so I took him to the store yesterday to buy one or two more pairs to finish out the school year. On the way, he starts telling me about how some of the other guys on the track team wear Asics shoes.

We've had this conversation before. I told Justin, "Ok, sure, but you have shoes that fit you fine, and those Asics are twice as much. And what if they give you blisters? If what you're wearing works, why switch?"

Justin explained, "Well, yeah, uh huh ... it's just that all the other guys wear Asics. Brandon and Robert and all them have two or three pairs."

I sighed, "Yes, right, and that's great. They have lots of pairs just like you do because they can't bring themselves to throw away good looking shoes that are all worn out, but maybe Asics fits them while the other stuff doesn't. That doesn't really answer my question."

"I know," Justin nodded. "But still."

And the conversation went on like that (add on another 3-5 minutes worth of circular talking that I won't bore you with) for about the tenth time in the last month, and it went pretty much the same as it always does. I admit, I have a cheap side. Who doesn't? But crap, buying $80 shoes when $40 shoes look better, fit fine and have worked for months ... well, that's just stupid. It isn't cheap.

Justin recently spent some of his saved up chore money ($35 worth) to buy FIFA Soccer 2005, which he and Cody just love to play on the Gamecube. So I put it to him this way, "Justin, would you rather have the Avia shoes plus FIFA Soccer or the Asics shoes, keeping in mind that you shoes only last you about six weeks."

He thought about it for a minute, but then he surprised me, because he genuinely said, "The shoes. I think I'd rather have the shoes." He was pretty torn about the choice, and that means a lot because he's been going nuts waiting to buy that soccer game. I don't think Justin was hamming it up, but maybe I am underestimating his ability to be manipulative (if he can be, at least that would be a good sign he is starting to think outside the box a little bit).

When we were in line to buy his Avia shoes, I had finally convinced him for the moment that buying Asics shoes was pretty pointless, and he said, "Oh, guess what? Did you know that Robert wears Asics socks?"

I just about slapped my forehead. We went through a discussion of how expensive athletic socks are, how fast they wear out, etc. See, I know Justin. I know how he is with his nice running shoes. We tell him to wear them only when he's running, but he ends up wearing them all the time because he likes them. He'd do the same thing with athletic socks. He'd wear them every day, complain when they aren't washed and ready for him, ruin them while screwing around with Cody in the backyard, etc. I'm not negotiating on those socks.

"But I would only wear them at meets!" Yeah, right. He can buy them himself. I went through something similar with Cody the other day. His shinguards are fine. He wears pretty much the same shinguards as everyone else on the team. They aren't weird or broken or anything, but I think one of his friends has a different color (keep in mind these go *under* thick soccer socks, so you never see them during games). So when we went to the soccer store to get Cody some new cleats the other day (another $40, thanks), he started bugging for new shinguards. I said, ok fine, you're paying for them.

Changed his tune pretty quick.

Justin will probably get the Asics shoes as an Easter surprise, because I'm too damn easy.

Posted by Observer at March 14, 2005 10:07 AM