Is that why Apple has got the US by the balls because people want to avoid the dreaded green bubble in iMessage? I'm not from the US so that might be me misunderstanding the situation, but I've been told that even many adults in the US view that as a valid reason to avoid anything that's not an iphone, because of some social stigma attached to the green bubble.

It's both. Kids suck and can be clique-like over the dumbest things. But these corporations also realize the amount they can make when their brand is a "status symbol", and they purposely market around that.

When I was a kid, there was a phase where everyone was obsessed with red flannel. Went on for like 3 months.

Imagine a pro dominantly black/Latino school in the hood where we're all dressing up like Al Borland from Home Improvement.

Because they learn from their families, usually. I remember the uppercrust side of my family kicking dirt from a family member's grave onto his second wife's grave. So classy.

The kid who bullied me relentlessly in middle school had an extremely unique name. I've been following his career since as he's been listed in news articles for being arrested for increasingly severe crimes, most recently being described as the kingpin of a car theft ring. Glad to know he's been quite successful in his career so far with credentials like that!

My grade school bully is serving life in prison for attempted double homicide. IIRC he’s also a sex offender.

Obviously the decisions he made as an adult are his responsibility, but honestly I feel bad for him. He didn’t have much of a chance. His home life was terrible, and he took it out on those around him. He had no positive role models in his daily life besides those at his school, who were always punishing him because he couldn’t conform to a world utterly foreign to his own where people weren’t constantly shitty to one another, and the school didn’t have any better idea how to handle him. The kid had no support. His father was in and out of jail/prison, his mother was overwhelmed. He fell through the cracks.

It’s no surprise he turned out a piece of shit.

That doesn’t excuse his actions. Plenty of people come from difficult origins and are good people leading decent lives.

But I do pity him.

He chose Hookas instead of Hoka

It’s still air Jordans because Nike is a joke.

One of mine is in high school, and as much as I hate the confirming culture, especially because it's led by morons and marketing, I choose the same path. I allowed my (now high school kid) to participate in all the awful crap that I would never do myself when she felt middle school pressure. She was in the popular kids group.

The caveat has been it all comes with extreme education from my end. Not demeaning or condescending. I over-preach about marketing/ads/influencers and constantly question why people make the choices they do. I question everything though. "How do you know that?" often leads back to tick tock.

In my experience, the OTHER kids are now getting smarter as they age. Mine is now able to live her life how she wants and is still with that same group , and the kids (I shit you not) look to her for purchasing advice. The vanity kinda goes away as their brains leave that dumb social hierarchy age.

Note: My kids are/were decked out in Nike. We live by the world headquarters and a good chunk of the kids' parents work there. If that isn't peer pressure, I dunno what is!

How do you find these?

That's the thing, crap kids are still going to bully.

Man you have way more faith in adults than I do

Yup. Learned that one back in the 3rd grade. This stuff is hard if you're not experienced enough to know how people work.

On the upside, I learned that one cannot buy their way into other's good graces, especially if they're going to require you to modify your behavior to get there; they're lying and that was never the issue. On the downside: holy shit that hurts once it goes wrong the first time.

As an adult I can also appreciate that there are situations where you can "buy your way in" to a club or status of some sort. IMO, those situations are generally not worth it to begin with, requiring an never-ending stream of cash to keep up appearances. Plus, it surrounds you with other people that also believe, and are invested, in the program. It's a recipe for elitism at best, and a big 'ol grift at worst. Better friends and relationships can be had for $0 everywhere else.

Yeah, he's not getting made fun of for his shoes. They're just a convenient target of ridicule. Son is about to learn a life lesson.

I'm sorry. People are shit.

I don't have kids, but I do have a brother who is young enough to be my child, and I was very happy when he broke the nose of his bully.

That motherfucker had to learn.

I'm sorry you went through that. I'm glad you got your trapper keeper, though. Your mom made the right call.

I remember being 4 or 5 back in the 70s, my mom tried to put me in Converse, I refused to wear them calling them "clown shoes". LOL.

I feel vindicated.

I've always liked the style of chucks, but yeah. They fall apart faster than wet tissue paper.

I remember when high tops were in vogue. Granted, I hung out with kids in the "alternative music" scene, and Vans sponsored Warped Tour so much that "Vans Warped Tour" was just a normal term for us.

British Knights were the cursed shoes when I was a kid.

Probably because it was an affluent school. In a school with more poor kids, stuff like this is their little chance at feeling higher status than their peers even though it's all imaginary based on marketing.

Ha ha, I'm pretty old so, British Knights and Pro Wings were cursed shoes

kids these days

I got bullied for not having Nike, Polo, Izod and Vans. That was over 4 decades ago.

Kids find a way

It seems to be working for America right now.

Good luck fighting 200 8 year olds

I was unironically told that I should "keep a lower profile" if I want to avoid being bullied. I spoke to nobody and hugged the walls walking from class to class. I don't know how much lower of a profile I could keep.

An old steel rod car antenna is the ultimate. All you have to do is slice the air a few times and the sound alone will keep everyone away

Ngl this was my first thought. Or dig out a pair of those ol' soap shoes and do a sick grind (practice first with both of these).

You should go out of your way to ensure you always have replacement sneakers for them, and not a single pair should be Asics.

Kid could toughen up a bit. Having your shoes made fun of is such a small insignificant thing. It's probably one of the best options out there, given it's not actually even about you. I can guarantee if the kid did not react to the teasing, they would find someone else to pick on. Who seriously cares about shoes?