Baby Shoes

I guess you could say I live in a bad neighborhood. Or at least, it has all the signs of a bad neighborhood. There are dilapidated cars in the parking lot. And kids who run around all winter without a coat on. And at least one drug dealer per five hundred yards. I’m not ashamed of my neighborhood, though. I mean, I don’t think it says a whole lot about me as a person. If this were a perfect world, obviously, it wouldn’t be my first choice of residences, but it’s not a perfect world. I have no job for one thing. And my husband is in medical school for another. So we’re pretty much poor, and we will be for about two more years.
Another reason I’m not too torn up about living in my bad neighborhood is because I’m not a mother. I’d be a little upset if I had to bring up my children there. Obviously, my future child’s safety would be foremost in my mind. But I’d also be disappointed that I could not provide a more picturesque environment for my child’s upbringing. I had a yard to play in as a little girl, and a swing set, and a pool and a playhouse. I think I would feel guilty about denying my child the opportunity to have those things. But obviously, sometimes, it can’t be helped.
The other day, when I was lugging my groceries up the three flights of stairs to our apartment, I happened to pause on the second floor, a little out of breath. I noticed one of my neighbors letting herself into her apartment, flanked by her two little kids. The two little kids, who were one and two years old, or there about, were waiting patiently to go inside. I don’t know why I noticed, because I never usually look very hard at little kids, but it occurred to me that both her children were wearing UGGs. My first thought was “Oh, I didn’t know that they made UGG’s for babies.” But my next thought was somewhat more judgmental. “ I would never spend THAT much money on shoes for a baby. “ I said to myself. I mean really, how much walking do they really do?
It seemed really crazy to me, but I wasn’t offended right away. It’s a free, Capitalistic country after all, people can spend their money on whatever they want. But, out of curiosity I looked online to see how much a pair of baby UGG’s would set me back. The UGG booties (for tiny babies) cost about forty-four dollars, but the bigger ones (for toddlers) were closer to sixty-five dollars. One hundred and thirty dollars total for two pair of shoes that your kids will probably grow out of by next winter. Like I said, it seemed crazy to me, but what really seemed crazy is spending that kind of money on a little kid’s shoes when those little kids are stuck living in a crappy neighborhood. Great they have nice shoes, but how much use will they get out of them since they can never go outside? Call me crazy, but I like to think that I would manage my money a little differently if I had a child to consider. Something tells me my two year old won’t mind if I get him a thirteen dollar pair of shoes from Kids “R” Us. My question for you though is this: Is there a right way to be poor? And if there is, do most people do it right?