Back when I was a teenager … whoah, I guess I’m old enough to start a thought that way and not just be mocking someone with gray hair nearby. Well, back when I was a teenager, I’m pretty sure there were no “teen retailers.” Not only are there such stores today, but some, like Aeropostale, are apparently managing to earn profits amid the economic downturn. Meanwhile, ABC has been devoting lots of air time to a series called The New Normal, in which you can watch lots of Americans gravely adapting to life without Lexus SUVs and other luxuries. My question is: How did any of this come to feel normal?
As a teenager, my most prized possession was a skateboard. The big battle my teen peers had with their parents was over the right to have a phone in one’s room. (Some won; some didn’t. I never bothered to put up a fight.) I earned somewhere between $3.35 and $6 an hour every summer. And you know what? I’m pretty sure I knew I had it good. After all, I was aware that if I’d been born a generation earlier, I probably would have been in a jungle with a rifle in my arms when I turned 18.
Today, parents work harder and longer hours than ever, and I can understand that they want to be good to their kids. That means that a lot of 9-year-olds have cell phones, along with bags of money to hand over to the likes of Miley Cyrus. And, apparently, entire stores can be quite successful solely by targeting 14- to 17-year-olds, which is what Aeropostale does according to a new Time story. (Is anyone else creeped out merely by the words “targeting 14- to 17-year-olds”?) The story reveals that teens are spending less because they’re aware of the recession, and stores like Aeropostale are still doing well because they have big sales.
My point, when it comes to teens scaling back on stuff they don’t need and the “hardship” stories featured on ABC, is this: Sure, people are changing how they consume. But we’re talking about marginal changes made by privileged people. I’m not the only one to have this reaction. Read some online comments about the ABC series, which showed families shopping carefully rather than buying whatever they want, and going fishing rather than paying for extravagant activities:
“We were appalled at the airing of this particular ‘pity story.’ We are a family of five. I have taught school for 25 years and my husband is a builder and a farmer. We live in East Texas where fishing is a well thought of sport, not something you do because you can’t do anything else. I have always shopped creatively, not because I have to, but because it just makes sense. We would not have the things we have if we weren’t creative. We enjoy life and put God first. As a result, we know that our needs will be taken care of. To see a family who has never had to cut back or even think of shopping creatively, I can’t imagine the trauma!!!! We certainly didn’t feel any pity, just disgrace that people feel sorry for themselves living in a nice home with a healthy family.”
And another:
“We have always lived paycheck to paycheck. Our children hear ‘No’ every day. We save up to eat out once maybe every three months. We save baggies from lunches to reuse, we have almost all hand me downs, and our children do not have every sport toy available or even every toy available. We spent almost two years without a second car in a one income family with three kids and the car went with my husband to work because of his hours. This is not a pity story … We have never gone starving though we spend less than $400/month on groceries. We always have what we need for the day. Our children are healthy, happy and very well behaved.”
If the “old normal” referred to by ABC meant spoiling kids silly, spending without pause to think, and consuming way more than you need, I guess my feeling is: good riddance. Something tells me, however, that there will be a “new new normal” around the bend.