By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Once in a while something will come up that isn’t movie related and I’ll want to say something. Thankfully, with this website, I have a small forum to do so.
When I was in high school, I remember seeing kids in A&F. I would always think that they spent too much on clothing and that it appeared as if it had been washed too many times. These faded t-shirts were ridiculously expensive because of the label that read Abercrombie & Fitch. I never purchased anything in the store. Admittedly, they probably didn’t have my size –even back then, I was always a big girl. Even still, I never checked. It wasn’t my style.
There were several times I was dragged into the store by my cousin who cared much more about name brands than I ever did. Then again, she also cared more about what classmates thought of her than I did. Not that I enjoyed being picked on and assaulted on a daily basis, but I wasn’t ready to sell myself to fit in either. I had no interest in assimilating and become a Stepford Student.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t kid myself into thinking I was a joyful teenager. I was filled with teen angst both real and invented. My young life was far from easy and with few exceptions the teachers and students of Ludlow High School only made it worse.
I really hated everything about most teenagers when I was in school. I found them fake and hateful and everything I loathed. I remember in sixth grade a kid that was picked on without mercy by all the ‘cool’ kids died in a bike wreck. He hadn’t been wearing a helmet. He was a super nice kid, but was trashed by nearly everyone who considered themselves part of the in-crowd.
Of course, when he died everyone rushed to the funeral to pay their condolences. I guess the theory was that treating him like dirt when they live was okay as long as he was honored in death. I’m sure he would have appreciated a few kind words before he died much more than he did after. I remember my cousin telling me that one of these idiots was crying at the funeral and I just laughed, because I knew that the same douchebag that left Friday was going to arrive on Monday – and I was right. Nothing changed.
So nearly two decades later, the high school drama that was relevant at the time is all but a faded memory. Though, I’m not clamoring to befriend any of these people on Facebook, I certainly don’t wish most of them any ill-will.
Still, when I saw a recent article that quoted the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, it amused me. Mostly because a guy that looks just like
Stuart Smalley after doing meth, is trying to talk about what’s cool. Mike Jeffries basically said that he doesn’t sell clothes for everyone. He only wants cool good looking kids to buy his clothes and work in his stores. He asked himself, “Are we exclusionary?” and then he was kind enough to answer himself, “absolutely!”
Basically, he doesn’t like fat kids, ugly kids, or guessing by the price tag of his store, poor kids.
A bunch of people like Kirstie Alley are up in arms about this, which is fine. She’s never going to shop at Abercrombie & Fitch, which is great….but honestly does it matter?
There’s always going to be jerks and bullies like poor meth’d out Stuart Smalley. The thing to teach your kids is that people like Jeffries exist but it and they don’t matter. He doesn’t matter! The jocks and cheerleaders who refuse to buy anything without a label are the ones that typically end up nowhere.
I’m sure Jeffries is richer and in conventional terms considered a helluva lot more successful than I am, but still I would choose my life – and my friends. I mean come on, he looks like a character that Al Franken portrays who is actually geekier than the actual Al Franken.
Not to mention, how boring would life be to sit and talk about nothing all day with these idiots! Discussions would include the riveting, what happened on American Idol or whatever other popular show is on. In my day, I think it was Friends. I didn’t care if Ross kissed Rachel then and I don’t care who wins American Idol now.
I never desired to be cool or in. I preferred not to be picked on, but never in my life did I say, “Damn, I wish I had $60.00 to buy a t-shirt.” I was too busy spending $60.00 at an underground used VHS store where I bought the then out-of-print Super Fuzz and then going to the T-Shirt Place (yes, that’s what it was called) and spending $5.00 on Guns N Roses and Skid Row t-shirts a good five years after they were popular. My generation was RAP and Alternative and though Nirvana was great, to me – heavy metal and hair bands never went out of style. I could have feigned interest in what was popular and acted like my hair and fingernails were my biggest concerns, but I decided way back when, ‘the hell with that.’ I want to find a way to be happy…and after years of searching, I’d say I’m almost completely there.
There are the people in this world that from birth to death will dress a certain way, act a certain way, and speak a certain way to fit in. And then there are people who will be themselves. Abercrombie & Fitch and good old Stuart Smalley can keep the former. The latter doesn’t want them.
