“St. Vinnies hand-me-downs”
....that really took me back....I was divorced and busted in 1977....the first suit of clothes that I bought was from St Vincent de Paul’s thrift store....cost me $7.00 then another $3.00 to get it dry cleaned and pressed....it was a Hart, Schnaffer & Marx and wore like iron...even after I got back on my feet I kept that old suit to remind me of where I came from....and...where I could go back to again if need be.
Amen.
I think this is an interesting rant and justified. The frustrating irony is that journalism and free-enterprise commerce can easily be natural beneficiaries of each other. Journalists never pay attention to ad reps, the lowly ad reps, as sources for great insight, interest and local news stories and trends. Lots of uplifting, right, instructive stories of real businesses, real people, real accomplishments.
Journalists are purposefully and sometimes proudly/cynically removed from that element, I think, and so it heavily tints their view of the world. Their view becomes America's view of the world and the world's view of America.
I think most journalists with the aptly named "Depression lust" are genuinely unaware and ignorant of how the system works -- businesses, advertisers, are what supply their paychecks, and their employees are the public that reads their stories.
A lot of them don't get that.
I have a pair of boy’s rain boots that I bought from a thrift store when I was broke, returning to my country with two toddlers, two suitcases and $200. My small son wanted boots and I was grateful to be able to make his wish come true.
I, too, keep them as a reminder.