Death over Designer

So, the newest edition of Air Jordans came out last night at Midnight and it was amazing to see the twitpics of people standing in line outside in the cold all across the country for these coveted kicks. It was even more astounding to wake up this morning and read about the violence and fatalities that occurred as people tried to get their hands on these shoes. In Atlanta, a rowdy crowd broke a door down to get into the mall. Across the country in Seattle, officers were "forced" to mace a group of about twenty over-overzealous shoe-buyers. In Richmond, a shot was fired as crowds broke windows to get into the mall.

How would you feel if your loved one died over a pair of shoes?

According to J. Cole, that's "death over designer." Me? I just can't wrap my head around it. It's amazing to think about our fixation on material things, but when we think about our commitment to other, seemingly more important concepts like voting or taking care of ourselves, we seem to not be as passionate.

Actor Lamond Rucker (the sexy sheriff/Jill Scott's better man in "Why Did I Get Married") came to Hampton a few weeks ago to talk about HIV/AIDS prevention. Bruh was deeper than I had anticipated but one thing he said really stuck with me:

"Your generation is quicker to spend their last or take care of material things than they are to take care of themselves."

While he was referencing safe sex, I immediately thought about where I had witnessed this in my life. Whether it's my ten-year old brother's best friend who places his expensive shoes in a shoe box with tissue inside to change into less expensive shoes when they want to go outside in play, or the classmate who hand-washes his Mercedes every other weekend to make sure it stays shiny, I can definitely attest to witnessing this. 

But then I turned the mirror on myself. How many times had I missed taking my medicine in a month compared to how many times I had missed a hair appointment? The truth was shameful. Since then I haven't missed it one time. 

We have to start taking care of ourselves, y'all. There's nothing wrong with wanting nice things but we need to make sure our interior is as fresh as our exterior.