10 Things Missing From Sneakers Today

Nowadays most of us buy sneakers online more than we do in store. Back in the day you had to try them on to make sure they fit. By fit, we mean, Moms wanted them at least a half size too big so they would last longer. If the salesmen was a true boss, he'd ask if you wanted to wear them home. This, of course, had you begging and pleading with Moms, but usually, you had to wait for the first day of school. Now that we think about it, we actually looked forward to the first day of school because of that. Damn, parents are always thinking ahead.

It sounds crazy that we actually miss having that $30 budget from back in the day but it's true. Now we don't have real money, we have "Paypal" which we pretend to not be a part of the monthly income so we can spend more on sneakers. We don't have to pull out cash, we just click a few times and a few days later sneakers show up at our door. The consequences are quite literally, an afterthought. Not to mention, it was ABSURD that a sneaker cost $100 back in the day, now we're comfortably numb to spending $200-plus on a new release. Hint: It's all real money in the end.

Nothing against Kanye, Big Sean or Rick Ross, who have all found a way to build their personal brands through footwear contracts, but what happened to performance? Whether you grew up on Dr. J's Converse or MJ's Air Jordans, it was seeing them fly in them, that made you feel fly in them. Hell, it made you feel like you were them. The first time you saw the Air Jordan XXI commercial, Let Your Game Speak (way back in 2006), you were reminded of how many times you emulated those moves, repeating them on your local schoolyard, until you had it perfect. Do people rehearse rapper's verses while wearing their sneakers nowadays?

If you were one of the "in the know" kids that subscribed to the Eastbay catalog, props to you, you probably saw sneakers before most. But even if you saw them in the catalog, there was nothing like walking into the store and seeing them on the shelves. There was always colorways that you hadn't seen before, and sometimes even models that you hadn't seen. It made a trip to the local sporting goods store or local mall one of the best things in life. Which, is sorta like seeing them on Instagram now. Or not.

There seems to be a trend going around that not buying sneakers is cool — or at least saying you're not buying sneakers anymore. More power to you if you actually don't, hopefully you've moved on to less-invasive addictions. However, getting a pair of free sneakers from your friends doesn't mean you should stop buying sneakers. If you're making a living off of selling the hype or promoting your business, get out there and buy from the people that support you and wear what you like, not what you think you're supposed to like.

Sure, you thought your folks were giving you the choice of what sneakers you were buying but if you think about it, you were getting whatever was on sale at the time. If last year's Jordan model was still on the discount rack, you hoped it was cheap enough to get it. In today's sneaker world, you can have any color you want, which is kind of scary — we've seen those iDs you made, bro. Sometimes, limiting the color choices helps make things simpler. You know that Henry Ford quote: "You can have any color you want, so as long as it's black." Or for you younger guys: "You can have any beer you want, as long as it's a Corona."

You can always find sneaker deals if you put in the time to hunt them down but back in the day you could walk into a JC Penney's or Macy's and come up like crazy. Clearances on the latest J's at department stores was the only way some of us could convince our parents to drop a little extra on a pair of kicks. Sneakers at most department stores today are bottom of the barrel, if you can even find them. (Although there are still exceptions.)

When it comes down to it, being fresh is what sneakers is all about. That feeling you get when you first slip on a new pair, is something that even non-sneakerheads understand. For some reason, in the last couple of years, getting things first became a priority for some 'heads. If you are reading this, somebody had it before you. Period. Besides, do you really want to be the guy known for buying his kicks from pre-order sites that turn out to be bootleg?

Getting a new pair of sneakers is still special. It's just that when you get a pair now, rarely does that initial feeling last because it's on to the next release. When you were younger, you'd get that one pair (maybe two if your family was from the good side of the tracks) and you'd stare at them joints every day. Forget smiling like a kid in a candy store, we miss smiling like a kid with a new pair of kicks! So instead of Instagramming your latest purchase and just adding them to your stacks, try looking at them for a while. REALLY look at them. And try hard to recapture that feeling, because that should be what it's all about.

Social media has connected 'heads from around the world. No doubt, we've all had some benefits out of this in some way or another but it's also made for an easy way for people to hate from behind a screen name. That negativity gives the sneakerhead community a bad rap in the world. Back in the day, most of us would hit the playground and get compliments on our sneakers and dish out the props as well. That's how a give-and-go works. And it's OK — complimenting someone else's good taste doesn't reflect poorly on your own. Try it sometime.