Whatever Happened to Pride?

I reckon that what I know about fashion you could put into a shot glass and it would still be about half empty.  It’s a subject I don’t have too much interest in.  Years ago I discovered that buying clothes that are in fashion are going to cost a hell of a lot more than buying just regular clothes.  The idea of paying a bunch of extra money to have someones name or logo on it just doesn’t make much sense to me.

I have a hard time justifying paying a lot of money for clothes.  I do my best to limit my clothes expenditures to about $100 every four or five years.  When I read that the RNC spent $150,000 on clothes for the Palin family it got me wondering about quite a few things.

I tried to put it all into perspective for myself.  How much would $150,000 buy?  At $30 a pop for a good pair of blue jeans, that would be 5,000 pairs.  Or 30,000 pairs of socks at $5 a pair.  Conclusion:  It will buy a hell of a lot of clothes.  The real question then is, what did $150,000 buy for the Palins?

I’ve known quite a few people from Alaska.  One thing about Alaskans, for the most part, is that they are self-reliant.  Even the Governor of Alaska will stand up and turn down funding from the federal government for a Bridge to Nowhere -- after a fashion.  All in all, there is this thing called “Alaskan Pride.”  It goes something along the lines of “we are self sufficient and don’t need or want handouts from anyone.” 

Now, I do admit that I don’t know a hell of a lot about women.  Never could quite figure them out.  On some things, they do seem to think a lot different than men do.  Don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.  One thing that I do know is that women’s clothes are a lot more expensive than men’s clothes.  Maybe it does cost a big bunch of money to buy a couple of outfits for women.

Now, as a man I can say a few things.  If someone came along and told me that my current wardrobe, although just fine for someone in my position,  wasn’t good enough for someone in a position, say, as “The First Dude.”  I would be quite tempted to tell them that clothes don’t make the man.  I sure as hell wouldn’t let someone -- using other people’s money -- go out and spend $4,500 on clothes for me.  If I figured that the clothes were that important, I would go out and buy my own.  It’s this thing called “pride.”

There are some people that need a “hand up” in America.  If I was one of those people, I no doubt would have to swallow a lot of pride to accept something from someone else.  When one is hungry or needing shelter, survival overrules pride every time.  But, if my income was over $100,000 per year, and my wife’s income was $125,000 a year, and we had assets worth over $1 million, then my pride would certainly stand in the way of accepting $4,500 worth of free clothes. I would go out and buy my own if I really thought clothes were that important.

Maybe being a politician, or the husband of a politician takes your pride away from you.  I reckon that begging people for money to help you get a job with power could take your pride away from you. From the evidence that has been presented so far -- Troopergate, children’s travel expenses and now clothing -- it is pretty apparent that the Palins are drunk with power, which means they have lost contact with common sense and their own pride.

As for myself, I reckon that I have too much pride to be a politician.  Now that I think about it, I reckon that I have too much pride to be a Republican too. 

I buy my own clothes.

The Old Codger
It ain’t easy being me.