A Sucker to the Madness

Shaped Rubber Band Bracelets. Now why didn't I think of that?? Apparently they are all the rage. You're probably thinking I learned about these from my 5-year old. Nope. We went to the local toy store this afternoon to get a birthday present for Allison's friend. I noticed the store was a bit more crowded than normal, in fact, a lot more crowded than normal. I saw a bunch of kids and their parents huddled around this easel that had little packets of somethin' attached to it. I looked closer and saw little shaped rubber things inside the packets. So I, being the clueless one, asked the salesperson (who couldn't have been much older than a teen) what all the fuss was about. She explained to me this latest fad among kids and apparently teenagers too. She said "they are rubber band bracelets that come in shapes and no matter what you do with it, it always reverts back to the original shape." I said "That's it? A rubberband? A bracelet?" This is what all this kids are clamoring for. The salesgirl continued "We just got them in. They'll be gone by the end of the day." Attached to the easel were samples of all the packets they had available. The actual product was behind the counter. Apparently it's such a hot item, the teenagers were walking off with them so they had to move them to behind the registers. Again, I think to myself "Rubber band bracelets??? Really??? And there's nothing else they do...they're just bracelets?" So I asked Allison if she had ever heard of them. Her response "Yeah, some kids in my class have them. Samantha and Rhya are crazy about them." Yet she's never asked me for them. I asked her if she wanted some and she said "sure" but in a kind of take it or leave it way. I guess I should be thankful my kid isn't into the trends, the fads, the "gotta have" item. I'm sure in a few years (or probably less) this will change. She'll be begging me for the next big thing. But here's the kicker, I just HAD to buy a pack. It wasn't her that felt she needed to have them, it was me giving into the madness. Maybe it's rooted back to third grade when my parents wouldn't buy me a real pair of Reeboks (sorry mom, but it's true), and I got a pair that looked just like the real thing, yet it wasn't. I was given the nickname "fake Reebok" and carried that around for two and half years until we moved to a new house, I switched schools and my parents finally bought me the pink Reeboks I had been begging for. Of course, by then they we're probably completely out of style. But enough about my childhood....Luckily these things are cheap, well relatively cheap - $5 for a pack of 12 or so bracelets that probably cost about 2 cents to manufacture. But I only bought 1 pack. I'm such a sucker. Allison could care less, but at least her mother feels "hip" for a day.