At my school back when I was still in education it was all adidas :3

I’ll tease my kids if they don’t wear Asics

Eh, my dad wanted me to not be teased because of clothes or whatever. Except I saw through the bullshit and didn't ask anything. So he basically forced me to wear the ugly shit he thought would look good. When all you can wear is ugly shit picked by your well-meaning parents, ya knaw.

"Demonstrative consumption" is the word. It hurt my social ties with those I'd want to talk to, but was ashamed of this, much more than fucking poverty probably would.

He had sort of a trauma from his own childhood, but that's frankly no excuse because he didn't even try to talk to me about this. I'd tell him it's a school half-stacked with children of thieves (aka government workers, it's not USA so I won't take any bullshit about "hard-working administrators", a different part of the world), so, first, I'd prefer to have clear cultural separation from them, second, I didn't want to be there. The dumb fat pig moron wouldn't listen, he thought me complaining is the problem so he should find some way for me to waste my resistance energy.

Well, those little jerks played a prank on him, which I did try to prevent, but as you've probably guessed, he thought my resistance to his good wise decisions to be the main threat, so they succeeded. He tried to blame it on me later. I do feel bad for him, but he deserved every bit.

OK, so much for memories.

I sort of want to do a stake out and bust out on the playground if he gets teased.

Man sketchers are awesome. I have a pair that I've re-bought consistently for years because they were the perfect fit, comfy, and were nondescript. Now they've discontinued them so I have to see if I can order them online.

I remember when I was kid though. We always had hands-down, goodwill, and k-mart clothes. But one of my Pop's jobs was a janitor at the "rich" school district and he'd watch the lost and found box and wait for the shit he brought in to expire.

Once it was in the bin for more than a month it got "donated". Half of that stuff went to the kids of the people that worked there. My brothers and I being some of them. So Pops scored me a pair of Air Nike when Jordan was at the height of his career.

Wouldn't you know it? One dude on the play ground had to ask why I was wearing a Walmart T-shirt while wearing Nike shoes. Seriously, kids are fucking brutal.

I learned long before that that I was "poor" so I learned how to play it off and flipped the script. "Are you that superficial that you give a shit? It never even occurred to me to look at what you're wearing but now that I am, all you are is a wigger" (slur for a wannabe in my era/location). He left me alone the rest of our school career.

I'm in my forties now but somewhere in my thirties he hit me up on Facebook and apologized for being a little shit. Turns out he had a bit of a crush on me and that's how he showed it amongst other reasons. He was newly divorced when he reconnected with me so I had to turn him down (that the only reason you're apologizing, dude?) but he was much nicer about everything this time.

Kids can be nasty but many of them grow up. Anytime you can stand up to adults in front of your kids it's teaching them how to stand up to their own peers. Show them every example you can of how to handle what they're dealing with. How you stand up to your family, friends, and peers, is how your kids learn how to do the same thing.

You can't buy yourself out of bullying. Even rich kids get bullied. Confidence in yourself and empathy for others are a far better lesson to teach the next generation.

Get him Hokas, tell him that’s what the rich actually wear.

Yeah, I agree! Sadly the days of fighting back are over. I have faith he can scrap is needed

Nice

Nike marketing aside, sketchers are child abuse.

dont blame nike, blame the over-consumption introduced by unchecked capitalism. Comparing yourself to your surround has become the norm, leading to an increase in depression and, like you wrote, consuming too much. Americans on average buy 68 new clothing items PER YEAR, PER PERSON!! Maybe dont blame the kids, they are a product of their surrounding. Blame politics, and blame yourself if you have done too little politics in the last decades