Sometimes it takes more than one trip to the mall

The year is 2001, and your senses are about to be overwhelmed by Hollister cologne and Auntie Anne's pretzels...

Photo by Mercedes Carballo

When I was in 6th grade, I really wanted my first pair of skateboarding shoes. The bug had hit our friend group hard and like anything that’s marketed to kids, there was no shortage of merchandise to beg, borrow, and deal for.

Eventually our parents relented and my mom took me and my brother to the mall. This was obviously our first mistake. No real skateboarder would be caught dead with their mom at the mall. But real skateboarders we were not, so we excitedly hopped in the car.

At the store, a part of me knew the selection was disappointing, but I had come to the mall with the sole intention of walking out in new shoes, and was operating from a place of something, anything, being better than the tennis shoes I rode in on.

If I could go back in time, I would tell 12-year-old Jack that sometimes nothing is better than something. But I can’t go back in time. So let the record show that I convinced myself that an objectively ugly pair of Etnies shoes in a green/orange colorway you’d have to see to believe was better than coming back another day.

To be fair, this is just one example of a good three year stretch of questionable fashion choices, but let the record also show that my brother didn’t take the bait. He was always better at resisting the first marshmallow in order to get two later, and as far as I know, lodged no formal complaints about the sneakers he procured on a subsequent trip.

I, on the other hand, had to live with a reminder of my impatience until it was time to go back-to-school shopping again. I’ve learned to cut my younger self some slack on account of the lack of a prefrontal cortex, but it’s hard to wait at any age. We’ve devised a world meant for immediate gratification and easy replacement, and to resist these temptations takes memory and practice.

These days, I’m a little more patient, and my footwear has definitely improved, but I’m still learning that the right fit takes time, effort, and sometimes, more than one trip to the mall.