Backpack, backpack.

Feb 08, 2012 15:13

I struggled to find a non character backpack for Philip for school. The difficult rating was that I refused to have it be stupidly expensive ($50? for a backpack?!), and that I didn't want him having to carry a backpack that was far too large for him. So, I was looking for a little kid backpack ( Read more... )

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Comments 15

raeyn February 8 2012, 20:46:53 UTC
I will tell anyone - spend money on a backpack. Spend lots of money. I used to go through a cheap backpack a week at one point; it took a few years of that before my parents listened to me telling them to buy me a Jansport. That one lasted most of the way through high school, thereby saving them a fortune. So yes - cheap is never the right way, especially with the eleventy-million books and things kids get stuck with today.

This has been a PSA blarb. BLARB! <3

[[radio edit]] On the subject of poor and cost - I asked for mine as a Christmas/birthday present. I often did this with needful things to try and take the strain off of my parents.

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polychrome_baby February 8 2012, 22:28:43 UTC
See, that's where I sort of want to do better. I have a habit of hoarding good quality "I need"s for birthday and holiday presents. I would hate for my kids not to be able to get anything fun because they're just trying to get what they need and not have it be the worst quality.

Which, I mean, they mostly aren't in danger of. They have lots of fun stuff. I just try to keep it at the top of my radar, you know?

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raeyn February 8 2012, 22:38:37 UTC

Trudat, trudat. :)

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pinkminx February 8 2012, 21:36:30 UTC
Poor people can't afford to buy cheap things. That's what my (poor) mother used to say, and she was right.

If you've read Terry Pratchett, there's the Samuel Vimes theory of boots, I think in Guards! Guards! or Men at Arms that's essentially about what you just wrote.

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thatgirljj February 8 2012, 22:17:09 UTC
Yeah, I used to get that as a kid from my mom too. We'd get good quality stuff at the thrift store because it would last longer than crappy quality new stuff. Things like shoes and book bags would come from my grandma at the beginning of the school year because she could afford them, while my mom couldn't.

Even now, I can afford throw-away quality stuff, but I mostly avoid that and hoard good things, even as they finally get worn out and outlive their usefulness. It's just what you do when you grow up poor.

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polychrome_baby February 8 2012, 22:34:32 UTC
It kills me how much "good stuff" is low quality crap now. I have the hardest time finding anything that's meant to last.

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polychrome_baby February 8 2012, 22:25:58 UTC
Pratchett is so damn packed that I simply can't remember everything. It is something I've heard regularly here and there. It's just truth, too.

Nevertheless, there is a point in poor where affording anything more than the most basic of what you need just isn't a possibility, because you can't even afford that. It's where a massive big portion of the US is at right now. It looks like that's not true, but that's because near everybody has been coasting on credit ( ... )

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amberpi February 8 2012, 22:24:55 UTC
I've had my same embroidered lands end backpack since high school, college, and grad school. Don't use it often anymore, but it still looks great.

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polychrome_baby February 8 2012, 22:38:37 UTC
I checked out the Land's End stuff. It's good. I just was impressed with the LL Bean Lifetime Guarantee and people's experiences with it.
It's pretty cool to know that yours has lasted that long, though. I'll keep that in mind. :)

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amberpi February 9 2012, 02:51:46 UTC
I meant LL Bean. I'm an idiot and get those 2 brands mixed up all the time. They are awesome, the kiddos will enjoy them for years!

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aelfie February 8 2012, 22:40:21 UTC
Oh, good I'm glad you found the LL Bean bags because I was going to point you in that direction if you hadn't. I skipped the small ones and got the bigger ones (the animal themed ones and the matching lunch boxes too) for the big three when Ike went to Kindergarten (which was right before the girls' birthday). Almost four years later they still look great! Amazing quality and I don't think I'll ever have to get them another.

Now I'm just waiting for them to put out next years supply so I can get the same for Gray.

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uppity_heathen February 9 2012, 01:31:09 UTC
I hate how poorly made things are, too. You don't even know that by buying a more expensive one that you are gettig quality because sometimes you have to get a VERY EXPENSIVE choice for it to last at all. I bought a $35 Target backpack on sale and the seam ripped in less than a week. What a joke. Everything is made to be disposable but you can buy bags from thrift stores that were made in the 70s and they are still perfect. WHY?

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raeyn February 9 2012, 10:47:05 UTC
I think it has to do with the relentless drive for profits in this day and age. If things are made to break, then people have to spend more money to replace them. This supports the 'must make more money than ever each year' blah blah blah... it's redonk, and unsustainable even with sabotaging one's products.

There's also the whole keeping up with the Joneses aspect. It's endemic in modern Western society that people feel pressured to keep spending and showing up with new things all the time. If they're replacing stuff that broke, it feels just the slightest bit silly to be buying the same basic item time and time again.

At least, that's my take on it.

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yolen February 9 2012, 22:07:56 UTC
I think you are exactly right!

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