It's Gotta Be The Shoes

That's what Mars Blackman told us a quarter century ago. We listened then, or at least a great many of us did. That's why the shoes that Michael Jordan promoted and wore under the auspices of "air" became such hot sellers. Millions sold, millions made. Money, money, money. For sneakers. Tennis shoes. Pardon me, basketball shoes.
And the thing is, it wasn't the shoes that made Michael Jordan such a great athlete. It wasn't the extra long shorts. It wasn't the tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth when he ascended to those great heights. But that's not what your average consumer thought. They wanted a part of that amazing spectacle. They wanted to buy some Air.
Fast forward a few years to my first year as an elementary school teacher. Way back then, my school had a uniform: White shirt, blue or khaki pants. The idea was that our low-income parents could save a few dollars on school clothes, and we could even help out with a few extra shirts or pairs of pants when things got really tight. Who needs to worry about buying all those snazzy new threads when you're trying to put food on the table? Well, here's the deal: The kids at our school did. We tried for two years to get our "voluntary" uniform policy to stick, and watched as kids showed up in sweaters that cost easily as much as a week's worth of uniform shirts and pants. And the shoes.
I know how much Air Jordans cost. I know how fast kids' feet grow. I watched kids come in and shuffle about in fifty dollar sneakers, only to wear them out in a few weeks of scuffing them around the blacktop. And sure enough, a few days later, that kid would have some brand new kicks on his quickly expanding feet. Heaven forbid that your parents would send you to school in some off-brand sneaker. The social order of the school would mock you relentlessly if your shoes came from Payless. It had to be worth it to buy the shoes and avoid the ridicule.
It's been thirteen years since we had a uniform policy at our school, about as long as it's been since Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls. The first time. It's been eight years since he played for anybody, but this past weekend, there were fights and police called in to quell the excitement generated by yet another permutation of the shoes. Pepper spray, shots were fired, windows broken. I kept thinking: It's quite possible that some of the kids I taught way back then found their way out to the mall and participated in some of that action. It's gotta be the shoes.