# Kids keep losing their $350 beanies at school **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691 "2019-01-13T16:43:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/41 "2019-01-14T14:59:29Z")
A few years ago I bought two skeins of 100% angora rabbit yarn with little glass beads. It cost me about $60. I made a nice warm hat for myself. I felt guilty about the extravagance. Not any more! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/42 "2019-01-14T15:36:06Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > But seriously. when you are wearing your [Moncler coat](https://www.barneys.com/product/1-moncler-pierpaolo-piccioli-lucrezia-down-quilted-puffer-cape-505971638.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=Product-Type-womens-coats&utm_keyword=PRODUCT_GROUP&utm_campaign=BNY-PLA-US-GGL-NB-Product-Type_RMK&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3tP-1Z3r3wIVVLnACh3TegktEAQYASABEgK9ffD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds), you’ve got to have the coordinating beanie. The fuck is that thing? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/43 "2019-01-14T15:37:40Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I always thought a beanie hat was a kind of beret. > As said above the kids call stocking caps ‘beanies’ now-a-days. Yeah, but kids are stupid. It’s the burden of their elders to educate them 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/44 "2019-01-14T16:14:17Z")
> [@tricoteuse](#): > > A few years ago I bought two skeins of 100% angora rabbit yarn with little glass beads. It cost me about $60. Wait… Did you buy the yarn with little glass beads, or with $60? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/45 "2019-01-14T16:15:40Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > What kind of many-armed monstrosity is going to emerge from THAT cocoon in spring? Probably [Ezra Miller](https://www.google.com/search?biw=1536&bih=718&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=_LM8XNyIHsPBjgSziaXwBQ&q=ezra+miller+puffer+coat&oq=ezra+miller+puffer+coat&gs_l=img.3..0j0i8i30.4208.4548..4768...0.0..0.104.312.3j1......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i7i30j0i8i7i30.7ZoA67PMriw#imgrc=_&spf=1547482113887). ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/46 "2019-01-14T16:34:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > When I was in middle school, my hats were **the cost of the yarn to make them** , plus the cost of about 20 minutes worth of labor (my mom crochets really fast). (bolding mine) Bah! Rich folks. When I was a kid I wore the billed cap that the feed store gave out for free. ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/47 "2019-01-14T16:40:10Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Wait… > > Did you buy the yarn with little glass beads, or with $60? 😛 I’m bringing wampum back, baby! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/48 "2019-01-14T16:59:24Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That’s not a “beanie”. Those are touques! That’s not a toque, [this](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/610HSSZuv8L._SY355_.jpg) is a toque. > [@elbows](#): > > Leaving the kids, the school and the teachers out of it for a moment, what kind of parent thinks a child should have a $350 hat? I was gonna say parents who worship at the altar of conspicuous consumption, but **typoink** beat me to it. > [@enipla](#): > > The fuck is that thing? [Haute couture](https://www.google.com/search?q=haute+couture&client=firefox-b-1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi85NSP3e3fAhVhllQKHVg_CWkQ_AUIDigB&biw=1280&bih=599). You know – fashion by designers who deep down inside really hate women. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/49 "2019-01-14T17:49:19Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > That’s not a toque, [this](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/610HSSZuv8L._SY355_.jpg) is a toque. Now, now. There’s no call to stoop to tu toque attacks. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/50 "2019-01-14T18:00:31Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Or the coordinating sucker plunger and gunstick… > > “Exterminate! Exterminate!!!” Definitely a Dalek cocoon. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/51 "2019-01-14T20:01:15Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I don’t have a son. I have two daughters in college. They buy their own clothes now. > > It did get expensive in middle school and high school. I can’t imagine paying premium prices for designer stuff. JC Penney’s stock is expensive enough. I am pretty sure that you mentioned a son before. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/52 "2019-01-14T20:09:03Z")
I believe you’re correct, **hajario**. > [@Could you disown a child that commited a serious, violent crime?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-disown-a-child-that-commited-a-serious-violent-crime/585856/3): > > Thankfully my kids never got into much trouble. One got caught drinking beer with friends when he was 15. Cops brought him home about 11pm. Considering what he could have done, my wife & I got off pretty lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/53 "2019-01-14T20:10:59Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I don’t have a son. 😕 > [@Could you disown a child that commited a serious, violent crime?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-disown-a-child-that-commited-a-serious-violent-crime/585856/3): > > Thankfully my kids never got into much trouble. One got caught drinking beer with friends when **he** was 15. Cops brought him home about 11pm. Considering what **he** could have done, my wife & I got off pretty lucky. > > Disowning a troubled adult child wouldn’t be easy. No one can just turn off the love a parent feels. However, having a child commit a serious crime like murder or rape has to be a parents worst nightmare. My bolding. Did you disown him, what crime did he commit? Concerned reader hopes that you guys eventually reconcile. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/54 "2019-01-14T21:19:22Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I don’t have a son. I have two daughters in college. They buy their own clothes now. > > It did get expensive in middle school and high school. I can’t imagine paying premium prices for designer stuff. JC Penney’s stock is expensive enough. Okay, so hold up here–you have two daughters in college right now, but one of them was a CPA who [banked her eggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16265630&postcount=27) in 2011, eight years ago? > [@Why I Froze My Eggs (And You Should, Too)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-froze-my-eggs-and-you-should-too/657600/27): > > Banking eggs has been a growing trend among professional women for over a decade. My oldest daughter banked hers in 2011. She’s not interested in marrying until she has her own accounting firm established. She’s a CPA in another firm right now. I’m finding these timelines a little confusing, a little help here? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/55 "2019-01-14T21:53:33Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Conspicuous consumption is a blight, but it really irks me more when the expensive garments are something you could get for so, so, so much cheaper just without a “prestigious” logo. The only real excuses for the existence of luxury goods is that they allow companies to push the boundaries of quality and design in ways that might eventually find a home in standard products, fill a specific-need niche, or at least provide some entertainment and amusement for us plebs when we see 'em. Yup. And for those label-conscious parents/kids who’d like a little systemic racism to go with their classism, note that [the hat comes in a variety of colors including a rachel-pink or dusty-rose-beige officially called “skin color”](https://store.moncler.com/en-us/hats_cod4146401443459735.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7Ie4vpzu3wIVF1mGCh0__gMMEAYYASABEgIR2fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&tp=70950). :dubious: Obviously, if you’re aware that skin comes in more colors than basic “whitefolks beige-pink” then this hat is not meant for you! And speaking as an advanced-beginner knitter who’s just completing my first-ever handknit wool beanie hat, that bog-standard rib-knit ish from Moncler is NOT really anything special, people. The 100% wool yarn for the hat and the dyed fox fur for the pompom could easily be obtained for a total of less than $50. While I’m all about artisans and handcrafters getting paid a fair price for their one-of-a-kind products, it irritates the hell out of me to see vanity labels slapping artisan-handmade prices on their completely ordinary mass-produced goods just because they can con trend-addicted rich folks into paying them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/56 "2019-01-14T22:41:03Z")
> [@JB99](#): > > There’s a reason it’s on Fox News. Maybe. But this is just the [handicap principle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_principle) in action. _Animals_ get it. If a gazelle can figure out that obvious fakery defeats the purpose of handicapping, then even a Fox News viewer can. Of course, animals do try to fake their way into higher social standing every chance they get, but usually they do a better job at it than this. Some fraction of them will fail since there will always be a distribution in fakery in skill. And Fox News only reports on the failures. I suppose the best possible spin here is that the hats are a bluff. That’s reasonable; a $350 hat is still cheap compared to other signals of wealth, like an expensive house. It works as long as no one calls the bluff, or it isn’t exposed via a random external event (like a stupid child). But no one succeeds in bluffing _all_ the time. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/57 "2019-01-14T22:54:08Z")
I seriously doubt they think it through like that. It’s not “we’ll by junior this expensive item to pretend to be wealthy.” It’s “junior says that this will make him look cool, and we can narrowly afford it, so we’ll get it for her.” When junior loses it, they may be upset simply because it’s wasted, but primarily junior is upset, and the parents don’t want junior to be upset, but can’t afford another one. They also don’t want to blame junior, so instead blame the school. This letter probably overstates what the school would actually do. By making it sound like they try really hard to deal with the problem, they appease these types of parents, while also getting the sensible rule that you just don’t bring stuff that’s that expensive. I also assume the reason they get lost is because they’re not allowed to wear them indoors. If it stayed on your head, it would be hard to lose. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/58 "2019-01-14T23:20:18Z")
Sure; hardly anything thinks this stuff through at a conscious level, any more than people think “I’m just hoarding calories for the long winter” when they enfatten themselves on pork rinds. That doesn’t mean they aren’t doing it for that reason, though. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/59 "2019-01-14T23:21:11Z")
To Long Island parents… Repeat after me: NO. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691/60 "2019-01-14T23:43:20Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > If I was a teacher I wouldn’t spend one second looking for them. Kids lose hats, mits, scarves, school bags, etc, etc. You wanna come by and look? Knock yourself out! The school closes at six, Good Luck! > [@scr4](#): > > Can’t they just tell parents that school staff are not responsible for things kids lose in school, and will not waste time looking for them? A brief conversation I had back when I was still working in prison. Prisoner: “Lieutenant, can I talk to you for a second?” Me: “Okay.” Prisoner: “I left my radio out on my bed this morning and when I came back later it was gone.” Me: “I’m sorry to hear that.” Prisoner: “Can you do something about it?” Me: “Saying ‘I’m sorry to hear that’ was pretty much it.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-keep-losing-their-350-beanies-at-school/827691.md?page=4)