Expensive Blue Jeans
Categories: Léo’s Insights 2024-2025
There was quite a commotion in the classroom before class was to begin. A young lady, obviously of means, was showing off her new blue jeans. Other girls were oohing and ahhing over what was obviously something to be desired. The young lady with the new pants was enjoying all the attention her jeans were bringing her as she gyrated her pelvis to give all the onlookers a better view of her “clothes”. This exercise attracted the attention of more than just the girls who were present; the boys, who were obviously the target audience, turned their heads as well. But one lone girl sitting at the front of the class was clearly not impressed.
The contrarian lady was a bit older and much more mature than the other girls involved in the pant scene. It was also obvious she did not come from a wealthy family so could not have gotten a like pair of jeans should she have desired them.
Recognizing that there was more to this than met the eye, I determined to spike the situation with a question. I asked the jeans-admiring group of young ladies what made this pair of jeans so special and how much they’d cost. The reply was $70. Bear in mind this was around thirty years ago when decent jeans could be purchased for $20.
I then asked how a $70 pair of jeans differed from a $20 pair. As the group of admirers listed the cut, the styling and the additional adornments, the isolated girl at the front immediately suggested the difference was actually 50 bucks! She went on to illuminate us all with the obvious fact that both 70 and 20 dollar jeans provided the service of covering one’s backside!
I do not recall the reaction of the expensive jeans admirers, but I do recall the expression on the naysayer’s face. It was priceless. It said, “How foolish of you to think the pants covering your rear end are somehow important.” Her wisdom was not lost on most of the students in the class, but I believe the message was missed by the $70 jeans party.
The moral of this story is: you do not need to spend a lot of money to accomplish things, particularly when looking for curriculum and supplies for home education. Indeed, sometimes the best things are inexpensive or even free. More money spent does not mean better results. Sometimes the difference is simply $50.
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