Or, The Economics of Academia Post #705
Yesterday I went back-to-school shopping — another of the fruitless strategies undertaken to deal with the Personal Appearance Crisis provoked by the the new semester starting next week.
Clothes shopping is one of those activities that invariably causes my mind to turn to money and specifically to my total lack of money. I am always forced to admit to myself that the clothes being sold at large department stores are obviously not meant for me — they are meant for people who can afford to spend $100 on a shirt. Since my usual rule of thumb for clothes is “nothing over $20,” I am not left with many options.
I don’t spend $20 on an item of clothing because I want to — it’s a state of necessity. As I have previously confessed, my financial state is a precarious one, due to the unfortunate combination of being shockingly underpaid and deeply in debt. There’s something about shopping for clothes so that I can dress appropriately and professionally for a job that pays me so little that I can’t get out of the debt I acquired getting the degree I needed to be hired into said job that really gets me steaming.
So, it was with particular irony yesterday that I read the story about Elvis Mitchell, the former NY Times film critic who now hosts an interview show on TCM — a critic that I used to admire but who I now fear has gone a little nuts. The story goes that Mitchell was returning to Detroit from Toronto, having hired a taxi to drive him across the border. At the border, Mitchell declared $80 but when he was searched it was discovered that he was carrying $12,000. His explanation? He brought the wrong box of cash.
Quote “…he told Page Six yesterday he ‘grabbed the wrong box’ from his apartment. ‘I have a fear of banks, so I keep cash in my house and I grabbed the wrong box,’ Mitchell said …”
I’m sorry? He’s got a box of $12,000 cash in his house? And it’s only ONE of his boxes of cash?
I think Mitchell is probably right when he says that the search was racially motivated (Quote: “Apparently a black man with dreads can’t carry that much cash”) but I just can’t get past the image of the box of cash.
Or, I should say, BOXES of cash …
A little closer to home — driving home the point that I’m poor while the rest of the world seems to operate on a separate level of economic excess — I recently learned that a friend of mine, someone I went to high school with and who now has a staff position at the university where I teach, makes more money than I do. While I am pretty much resigned to my poverty, information like this — comparing his BA to my PhD, comparing the supposed “clout” or “cultural cache” of my professor position to his cubicle job — creates in me a powerful hostility. I indulge is all kind of petty thoughts about the people who seem to be doing better than I (damn you, Elvis Mitchell!).
And, underneath it all is a terrible fear that my money problems are so deep that I will never be able to pull myself out of them …
I need to go looking for my other box of cash.
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August 16, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Sisyphus
Sorry about the financial precariousness. I’m there too. : (
I wish I could find “the other box of cash” —- it reminds me about how my grandfather, long a go, used to joke that he had all his wealth hidden in ‘kraut barrels buried in the back yard —- when he died, man we went over that backyard with a fine-tooth comb, but unfortunately it was just him joking.
And perhaps it wouldn’t work for you but I’ve found that if you have a good eye you can get most of a wardrobe from Target and still look professional —- $10 for a shirt, maybe 20s/30s for work pants or a jacket. The Merona stuff looks a little bit more “secretary/staff assistant” than “professor,” but I think it still works.
August 16, 2008 at 10:49 pm
servetus
The sad thing is that even once you are approaching “out of debt” you still can’t afford more than $20 for a clothing item.
August 17, 2008 at 3:57 pm
cliobluestocking
I have cans of pennies, which probably total about $5, but a box with $12,000?
I was at a party a few months back, and the women started talking about how they found a pair of jeans — jeans! — on sale at Blooomingdale’s for $100. “What a bargain!” they all exclaimed. Who pays $100 for jeans? My entire outfit that night cost about $50, including shoes, underclothes and panythose. But, then, I don’t shop at “Bloomy’s.” Most of my clothes come from resale shops. One of the best ones I ever went to was run by the Junior League. I found some seriously expensive suits for about $20. That’s a jacket and a skirt, fully lined, made of actual fabric, not polyester.
We won’t even get into my debt and income verses that of my brother with a GED and the other with the associate’s degree.
In other words, I hear ya! I often wonder, looking at the students coming behind us, looking at my 3 year old nephews, how they are going to get along. Will the value of higher education have diminishing returns?
August 17, 2008 at 7:23 pm
jo(e)
I buy most of my clothes at thrift shops. I’m guessing that they might be a bit out of style, but often they are clothes that someone spent a whole lot of money on in the first place.
I always get a haircut before the beginning of fall semester — that’s the thing I need to do to feel all prepared and professional.
August 17, 2008 at 8:17 pm
bsgirl
I am inspired by your comments to go check out the second hand clothing stores in my city. I used to shop second hand all the time but got out of the habit once I moved to my current residence — where there are fewer funky used clothing places … but I am going to try that route again. Inexpensive AND green — what could be better?
August 18, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Mel
what they said. My wardrobe is from Target and Old Navy — which often has good work-style pants on sale eventually for $20 plus the occasional jacket from TJMaxx clearance. It’s all about neutral colors and a few accessories that you like. (Oh, btw, cute work-worthy cardigans at Target right now but I’m waiting for them to get marked down which I’m sure they will be)