By GUEST COMMENTARY BY JACK NEWORTH
Mark Twain mused the older he got, the smarter his father got. Even though my father passed away years ago I could relate last Friday. It was midnight and I was coming home from Albertson’s where, among other things, I bought a frozen pizza. Shopping at that hour is strange, but there are never lines. It was drizzling as I drove home down Main Street when I saw what I thought was a group of about 40 homeless huddled in a doorway. As I got closer, I realized they weren’t homeless, but rather a group of teenagers in lawn chairs and blankets. Say what?
I had to find out more so I walked self consciously across the street. But the kids were actually eager to talk and I soon found out why. They were camping out for the next 12 hours to buy limited edition tennis shoes from the store “Undefeated” when it opened in the morning. The price? A mere $250 per pair. My jaw dropped, alerting the kids they were in the presence of an old fogey, although they probably would have used other words.
The shoes are Nike Air Force and Air Max 95 — only 500 made in the world, and only sold in a single store in San Francisco, New York and Santa Monica, and only one pair per customer. Gee, at $250 I’d have loved to stock up. They were designed by the renowned graffiti artist “Stash.” I never thought graffiti could be renowned — removed, yes, renowned, no. And I wasn’t sure if Stash was his first or last name, as if it mattered.
Mario Rangel, who hails from the Valley, told me he camps out like this about once a month. He graciously showed me the shoes in the window. No offense to Mr. Stash, but I couldn’t tell if it was a design or paint splotches. Charles Wang had driven all the way from San Diego and boasted he has 200 limited edition tennis shoes in his closet, all unworn. I bet his parents are proud. Broke, more like it. Was this the end of civilization, or had I become my father overnight?
Not a great sleeper anyway, that evening, I had a nightmare that giant paint-splattered tennis shoes took over Palisades Park. No more pizza before bed. I got up and called Undefeated. The manager, Alex, was courteous but busy selling out the shoes. It seems some kids re-sell them on E-bay for as much as $600. What a country.
I debated buying $10 tennis shoes at Big 5 and a can of paint. But I went back to bed instead. I kept thinking how much the price of a single pair of limited edition Nikes could help a homeless person. And oh yes, how smart my father had gotten. (Jack Neworth is an aging, but long-time resident of Santa Monica.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 4, 2006. Read the original PDF.