I was in the Mall recently looking at all the brands of ‘athletic shoes’. That’s what they are called now. When I was younger, they were called ‘sneakers’. Seeing all the variety, I started thinking about the difference between now and when I was in school.
When I was in Junior High School, the status symbol was what kind of sneakers you wore. That was the King of all things important. You had to have cool sneakers or you were a loser.
The old standby was the classic Chuck’s, Converse All Stars. The really cool people had those. The Pro Keds with the blue and red stripes in front, right on the rubber part, those were considered cool too. I had those, dark blue high tops with one white and one red string in each shoe. I was cool!
Then you had the super expensive sneakers that the really rich kids had or the jocks had like Adidas (they were rare back then), Fila, that Bjorn Borg made famous and K-Swiss. K-Swiss was very rare when I was in Junior High and the few who had them were considered the best of the best.
Then you had the ‘other kids’ who didn’t wear the cool shoes. The biggest insult when I was in 8th grade was telling someone they wore Zings. Zings were the $2.00 K-Mart sneakers. If you weren’t cool, you wore Zings. Even if you didn’t actually wear them, you still got that label.
It’s funny how stuff like that affects you later in life. After I got to High School, I discovered Wilson. Wilson shoes, sports equipment, clothes, Wilson everything. This came from being on the Tennis team and Wilson is big with Tennis stuff. For years, all I would buy was Wilson stuff. With the exception of Nike shoes. Once I discovered Nike tennis shoes, that was it. I didn’t even look at any other brands.
If I had stayed with just Tennis, I would have been OK, but playing Baseball/Softball and Golf, well Wilson isn’t quite the big name there. Nike wasn’t bad, but Wilson was. For years I played Golf with these old Wilson clubs that even good golfers couldn’t hit the ball with. I used Wilson balls that felt like rocks when you hit them. I even bought this cool looking Wilson bat one year when I played softball. When it struck the ball it thunked. A weird sounding thunk very much unlike the good bats others were using. But I didn’t care. I had a Wilson bat.
I was hard core about not changing brands too. Nothing but Wilson. Nothing but Nike.
I think it all goes back to those days when your sneaker brand was your status. Your identity with your peers depended on having the same things others had. Having the 'cool' stuff. I tend to be fiercely loyal, sometimes to a fault. So I intended to be loyal to my favorite brands. How weird is that? Loyal to a big company that doesn’t even know you exist. Loyal to brands that didn’t help your game and at times, hindered it.
I’m not like that any more. Actually, I can’t even find a pair of Nikes that they could give me to wear. They all look like some clown shoes or something out of the costume department of a bad sci-fi movie. Nope, I’ve learned my lesson with the status symbol clothes, shoes and sports equipment. It’s weird to think about those days, but I am glad they are gone. At least for me. I’m sure the kids today have some similar things they ‘just have to have’. I’m sure there are some ‘status symbol’ things still lurking in the schools today.
But what I’m really curious about right now is, I wonder if they still sell Zings?
8 comments:
When I was growing up in Ireland, sneakers were called "Gutties"... I think, because they might have been stitched together with cat gut...
I was thinking something similar the other day. I was wondering what people call athletic shoes. Is it as regional as the soda/pop/Coke thing? (For the record, it's soda.) I say sneaker or sneaks. Sometimes I even say tennis shoes or tennies, but then I feel old-fashioned and square, but not in the cool way like Spongebob.
I say tennis shoes.... I'm guilty.. Better than my grandma - She says Ballshoes.
Actually around here I've heard them called 'kicks' too. I kinda like that one.
I vary between tennis shoes and gym shoes. Gym shoes, well being the obvious, shoes I plan to wear to the gym. I still wear chucks though, gray and pink ones. :)
Flashback to 5th grade: For the girls the shoes to have were Tretorns. The fabric tennis shoes that had a "swoop" (not to be confused with the swoosh of Nike) on each side that was made of some kind of colored/patterned material. That and Reeboks. The soft, high-top ones in black or red. Oh how I wanted a pair of red ones.
I am with you on the shoes with different colors. What happened to plain ole white tennies? I have bougth my last 2 pair from Fila because I like their shoes but they were also the only ones in the store that didn't look like Rainbow Brite puked on them.
I was very cool. Then my mother bought my brother and I Zings. Took years to live down. Great memory. Hysterical
Actually, you're recollection about Zings isn't quite right. Zings were not $2.00 sneakers and they were not sold at K-Mart. In fact, yes,they were an "off brand" but truth of the matter is that they were sold at Father & Son and Endicott-Johnson, actual shoes stores with clerks who measured your foot, would have to go back in the stock room to see if they had the style you wanted in your size, etc. These were usually in high rent malls and the price of the Zings might have been less than Converse, but they were definitely more than discount store sneakers----by a fair amount. Also, Zings had some cool styles that were knock-offs of Converse or even other decent brands. Quality was probably on par with PF Flyers or Sears "The Winner." All in all, Zings were not a bad brand.
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