# I pit people who riot over a pair of sneakers. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 24, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280 "2011-12-24T14:34:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/41 "2011-12-25T04:02:58Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > It’s B **ie** ber, and leave my boyfriend out of this. You’ve got a lot of nerve, coming in a thread making fun of people who like sneakers. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/42 "2011-12-25T04:28:51Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > It’s B **ie** ber, and leave my boyfriend out of this. [voguevixen in the news](http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/12/justin-bieber-baby-daddy-mariah-yeater-maintains-pursuing-claim-robbie-powell-not) ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/43 "2011-12-25T05:01:21Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Actually, they’re pretty stupid too. Can’t recall any iPad riots offhand, though, at least not in the United States. > > I confess, I never got the whole sneakers thing. Never did, never will. They’re _sneakers._ Not anti-gravity boots. Not blowjob machines. The same sweatshop urchin who makes the $180 Air Jordans also makes the $30 no-name brand, and the only functional difference is how much of your hard-earned cash goes to replenish the marketing coffers. They still get scuffed, wear out eventually, and smell just as bad when you step in dogshit. > > I don’t get it. Do you have a nice house? Why? It’s not like you can be in more than room at a time, so why isn’t a studio enough? Sure, you have stuff to store. Why the hell do you have more stuff than you can even put in a room, huh? Do you drive a decent car? Why? You can buy a beat for a few hundred bucks- sure, it might break down but you can replace it several times over for the tens of thousands of dollars that a new car costs. Why not shop exclusively at thrift stores? Why not buy a $10.00 cell phone from China? Why bother with crap like orthodontics? Just to fix one tooth cost me more than a dozen pairs of Air Jordans. They could have pulled it out easy, with no real bad effect on my part except for my appearance. What a waste! I bet you are typing this on a computer you own. WTF? There are free computers at the library. And why would anyone need more than an eight inch TV? It’s the same picture big or small! Every culture has their status symbols. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/44 "2011-12-25T05:40:02Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > You’ve got a lot of nerve, coming in a thread making fun of people who like sneakers. Well come on, some people just have too many [sneakers](http://www.justinbieberzone.com/2011/07/justin-bieber-shoes-closet/)! ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/45 "2011-12-25T06:16:28Z")
Yep, they’re status symbols to many. Often the only kind of status the owner can in any way afford. In some of the schools I’ve taught, that status keeps you safe (or gets you killed, but 50-50 is good odds for some). Some people wear those status symbols, others simply collect them like some people collect art. There are shoe shops so luxuriously appointed they make Chanel boutiques look like Big Lots after a hurricane. And no, you don’t leave kids in the car unattended. Many good reasons have already been listed, but here’s another one–the kid who disengages the emergency brake and sends the car rolling into traffic. It happened the year before last in a city near here. As far as I’ve heard, both children still have not fully recovered from the accident. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/46 "2011-12-25T07:21:27Z")
If the previous versions of Air Jordans are any indication, they are collectors items that appreciate. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/47 "2011-12-25T08:40:22Z")
Some people take the word “Doorbusters” too literally. It is not meant to be an invitation. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/48 "2011-12-25T10:56:42Z")
None of you would be posting this crap if you actually tried these sneakers. They’re pretty awesome. But just keep talking without knowing the facts, fighting ignorance and what have you. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/49 "2011-12-25T12:49:03Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > None of you would be posting this crap if you actually tried these sneakers. They’re pretty awesome. But just keep talking without knowing the facts, fighting ignorance and what have you. What about the experience of wearing them makes them worth rioting and stabbing? Do they cure disease? Do they give you the ability to fly? They’re freaking sneakers. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/50 "2011-12-25T14:03:36Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > It sounds like **Hardon** is making desperate late effort to win arsehole poster of the year. Nah, he’s just posting stuff like that so he will get indignant replies that he can print off and decorate the walls of his home under the bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/51 "2011-12-25T14:32:01Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > What about the experience of wearing them makes them worth rioting and stabbing? Do they cure disease? Do they give you the ability to fly? They’re freaking sneakers. Look, I agree that killing someone over the shoes is probably wrong, but a little trampling and some smashed windows are appropriate for this level of comfort. No, you can’t fly - but you’ll probably get an extra 2 or 3 inches on your vertical lift, and while they may not cure disease, they’ll definitely help prevent plantar fasciitis, which is a serious condition. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/52 "2011-12-25T14:37:05Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Look, I agree that killing someone over the shoes is probably wrong, but a little trampling and some smashed windows are appropriate for this level of comfort. No, you can’t fly - but you’ll probably get an extra 2 or 3 inches on your vertical lift, and while they may not cure disease, they’ll definitely help prevent plantar fasciitis, which is a serious condition. Bullshit on the vertical lift and shoes are only a minor factor in plantar fasciitis. Take off the Jordan name and those are $100 shoes at best. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/53 "2011-12-25T14:48:25Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Not anti-gravity boots. Not blowjob machines. Well, I can tell you what Santa didi NOT bring me last night ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/54 "2011-12-25T15:01:02Z")
I’ve read that once you get past about the 70$ point on athletic sneakers, all you’re paying for is the brand name. Or, in this case, all you’re stabbing for. People like this make me sick. And I don’t care that the shoes are actually supposed to be resold, so the rioters are actually seeing them as a 300 dollar payoff. If 300 dollars is the value you place on an anonymous man’s life, I don’t want you free on the streets. You scare me. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/55 "2011-12-25T15:10:36Z")
People saying these things are comfortable (for anything other than sports) have obviously never worn a decent pair of shoes and/or boots in their life. (With this post, I am now officially old…) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/56 "2011-12-25T15:19:05Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Bullshit on the vertical lift and shoes are only a minor factor in plantar fasciitis. > > Take off the Jordan name and those are $100 shoes at best. How dare you insult the good name of Michael Jordan. Are you saying that you can jump higher than him? ---
**Author:** ![Haredye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@Haredye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haredye)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/57 "2011-12-25T15:39:47Z")
> [@EKDS5k](#): > > You can’t imagine a single thing happening? > > He wakes up, grabs something within reach, puts it in his mouth and chokes on it. > > Someone breaks into the car before realising there is a child inside. > > Depending on the car seat and the age of the child, it is possible for them to get into a position where they can suffocate. > > Given that something like 90% of car seats are installed incorrectly, he may be able to get out of the restraints and injure himself. > > If he got into the front seat, it’s conceivable that he might manage to work the automatic locks and then the door handle (small children are fascinated by buttons and levers). After falling out of the car he would then be in a parking lot by himself. > > Weather does change. Depending how long the parent was in the store, the sun could come out or it could warm up, raising the temperature inside the car. > > These are just a few off the top of my head, and only part of the reason while it is illegal pretty much everywhere to leave small children in cars alone. Okay genius, since you have appointed yourself as knowing everything about the dangers of leaving an infant alone for even 1/1000 of a second for the first 17 years of it’s life, let’s see some legitimate stats on just how deadly each of the things you claim have happened to infants left alone in cars actually are. Especially your claim that small children are fascinated by buttons and levers. Cite to at least 3 different and independent scientific studies that prove this or withdraw your claim. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/58 "2011-12-25T15:40:34Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > How dare you insult the good name of Michael Jordan. Are you saying that you can jump higher than him? I’m saying the shoes have nothing to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/59 "2011-12-25T15:55:18Z")
> [@Haredye](#): > > Cite to at least 3 different and independent scientific studies that prove this or withdraw your claim. You cite 3 that prove YOUR claim they don’t smart ass. This cite shit works both ways bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280/60 "2011-12-25T16:03:08Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > I’m saying the shoes have nothing to do with it. [I have proof that you’re wrong.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abr_LU822rQ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-riot-over-a-pair-of-sneakers/607280.md?page=4)