[Enigma]

Thought it'd be nice to share a positive story for the holiday season.

Quote:

One North Carolina high school student showed off his sneaker enthusiasm and his Christmas spirit, all in one kind gesture.

Yaovi Mawuli, a high school student from the Greensboro, N.C. area, spotted one of his classmates sporting a pair of less-than-ideal sneakers. Other kids in their French class were making fun of the worn shoes, but Mawuli felt compassion and decided to take action.

Taking to Facebook, he posted to the Greensboro Sneakerheads group for advice on how he should reveal to his classmate his gift of a new pair of popular sneakers.

“I’m planning to give him a pair of Concord lows,” he posted. “Now my question is how do I present it to him without him feeling like I feel sorry for him? I’m just trying to help a brother out.”
Instead of making fun of his classmate's worn shoes, Yaovi Mawuli surprised him with some new footwear.Instead of making fun of his classmate’s worn shoes, Yaovi Mawuli surprised him with some new footwear.

Mawuli’s classmate appreciated the fancy footwear and the two even posed for a quick Facebook photo. The teens are now friends, all thanks to a little bit of Christmas cheer.

http://wric.com/2014/12/22/christmas-che...-sneakers/

For people that don't know, "Concords" are a particularly sought after colorway of Jordans, so these are fairly rare and expensive sneakers.

I'm not sure if they were new, since the kid gifting them has a side business buying, restoring, and reselling used sneakers, but either way we're talking about a $150-200+ pair of shoes.

He also did an interview with a sneaker website. Kid is a native of Togo in West Africa and seems to have a really good head on his shoulders.

http://www.nicekicks.com/2014/12/18/1-1-...vi-mawuli/

[Kingsley Davis]

Could've just stealthly pulled the lad aside and give him the Chinese made crap without the attention whoring for fuck sake.

[coverdoc]

(12-25-2014 01:41 PM)Kingsley Davis Wrote:  

Could've just stealthly pulled the lad aside and give him the Chinese made crap without the attention whoring for fuck sake.

Maybe so but still did a good deed in his mind at the end of the day.

[Goldin Boy]

It's a nice gesture but it's high school: They'll find something about him to make fun of.

Just from that picture, I'd get on him for being fat, having a bad haircut, and looking poor/dirty.

In the long run, NC sweatshirt kids gotta learn to dis them back or fight he doesn't want to be victimized or taunted.

[TigerMandingo]

(12-25-2014 02:11 PM)Goldin Boy Wrote:  

It's a nice gesture but it's high school: They'll find something about him to make fun of.

Just from that picture, I'd get on him for being fat, having a bad haircut, and looking poor/dirty.

Why? Then we wonder why this kind of shit happens.

[Goldin Boy]

(12-25-2014 02:25 PM)Cunnilinguist Wrote:  

(12-25-2014 02:11 PM)Goldin Boy Wrote:  

It's a nice gesture but it's high school: They'll find something about him to make fun of.

Just from that picture, I'd get on him for being fat, having a bad haircut, and looking poor/dirty.

Why? Then we wonder why this kind of shit happens.

Kids have been making fun of each other since time immemorial. Most people who get bullied don't go on killing rampages.

Cherrypicking the extreme example of a few disturbed people doesn't prove anything.

New shoes won't make him less of a wuss. So do you disagree that he should learn to stand-up for himself and stop being a victim?

[TheWastelander]

He's going to get his new shoes stolen.

[game_ethic]

The sneaker culture among current high school students is absolutely ridiculous. When I was in high school, people rocked Jordans and sure, some kids were made fun of if they had on "less than ideal sneakers" but it wasn't as extreme as it is today. Dudes are getting stabbed over kicks that are $200, kids are getting bullied and made fun of, and people are lining up outside in subzero temperature weather just to get sneakers that will earn them validation from their peers.

[CRR]

^^^this is one thing that was the same when I was growing up. Sneakers were a big deal, people fought over them, etcetera.

Perhaps it has escalated, but I think it did start in the 80s and isn't a recent phenomena.

(12-25-2014 01:41 PM)Kingsley Davis Wrote:  

Could've just stealthly pulled the lad aside and give him the Chinese made crap without the attention whoring for fuck sake.

Ha, that was my initial thought as well, but it's still a good deed.

I'll give more of a pass to a young person doing this. So many people on my Facebook feed "I love donating to toys for tots", etc. They're adults and should know better. No longer is it "Hey, here's a cause I believe in", it's "I donated to this cause, look how generous and awesome I am!!!".

(12-25-2014 01:41 PM)Goldin Boy Wrote:  

New shoes won't make him less of a wuss. So do you disagree that he should learn to stand-up for himself and stop being a victim?

Yes, ultimately it's in the individual's responsibility, but I think young men should be taught to stick up for each other. That doesn't mean fighting one's battles, but to share values and teach each other valuable skills.

For example, the kid who gave him the shoes, if they are actually friends now, should also invite him to get off the couch and use those sneakers to play sports with him to get him into shape.

[Jevioso]

Zero Tolerance always has its own collateral damage.

You can actually get into trouble for fighting it out now (kids can insult your mother, and if you punch them in the face, you get into trouble), so now people travel in groups and harass you all day, whether it's through twitter or face-to-face. Since they have zero tolerance for fighting, bullies are now experts in psychological abuse which is much worse, since there's no defense or escape for it, unless you're a smart-ass or a class clown.

[TheWastelander]

(12-25-2014 04:03 PM)Jevioso Wrote:  

Zero Tolerance always has its own collateral damage.

You can actually get into trouble for fighting it out now (kids can insult your mother, and if you punch them in the face, you get into trouble), so now people travel in groups and harass you all day, whether it's through twitter or face-to-face. Since they have zero tolerance for fighting, bullies are now experts in psychological abuse which is much worse, since there's no defense or escape for it, unless you're a smart-ass or a class clown.

Wouldn't finding the ringleader and giving them a beating off campus still be a pretty good defense?

If they run to the teachers and snitch it'll be them looking like a bitch.

[Enigma]

I agree, guys. He should have AMOGed that fatty to establish his more dominant frame.

What an attention whore, posting about sneakers in a snearkerhead group which also serves as an extension of his reselling business.

Should've posted about banging HB11s on the forum, which is a much more appropriate form of sharing stories.

[Brian Shima]

Cool that is a nice thing to do

[TigerMandingo]

(12-25-2014 03:17 PM)game_ethic Wrote:  

The sneaker culture among current high school students is absolutely ridiculous.

Yea and also why on earth are these ugly-ass sneakers so expensive? I remember being at Foot Locker and seeing these Jordans for something like $150. I know it's high school and fashion sense is limited but still...Get some lacostes for the same price and you'll look 10x better.

[AntiTrace]

dude has a biz selling sneakers? marketing 101. well done.

[L M McCoy]

I met my best friend at a pizza shop; was very very drunk and high so the hunger was killing me. Made my order and when I went to grab my wallet it wasn't there

"I got him" and this guy comes up and throws down a twenty. I ask him to split it with me because "I don't want to get fat" and here we are 5 years later, still "BFF's"

[Brian Shima]

Lacostes LOL he would get made fun of more in those than some Pay Less sneakers

[Seadog]

Having grown up with below average social status and giving this a lot of thought, the simple fact is that he wasn't being made fun of because of shitty shoes. He has done or inherited many things to put him at the bottom of the social ladder (pussy, whiner, rat subservient, weak), and the shoes are merely the thing they chose to pick on this time.

I guarantee there are people with equally bad shoes who aren't being made fun of because they're dominant/good at sports/whatever.

eg: I got made fun of for being chubby. There were cooler, but fatter people who didn't get teased. My clothes got mocked, so I bought nicer ones. Now clothes largely were ignored and other things we're targeted. I would tell a joke or make a point and be told to shut up. Someone with higher status says the exact same thing, and followers burst out laughing.

The issue was never the shitty shoes, it's the mocking. And the mocking is merely a symptom of his place at the bottom. New shoes wont change that.

Regardless, good on him for doing a good deed. World needs more people like that.

[Haig]

I think that it is a really decent and honorable thing to do.

looking at the picture, I could possibly assume that the bullied guy is somewhat on the autistic spectrum (I know it seems like quite an assumption but I used to work within that sort of field and you could spot the physicality of autistic people a mile off)

[Kingsley Davis]

[monster]

He wasn't getting made of because of his sneakers. He was getting made fun of because of who he is. The classmates just chose his sneakers because they are an easy target.

New Jordans are not going to stop the teasing. In fact, people are making fun of him now. They're saying, "What a loser! Someone actually had to give him cool sneakers because he doesn't have the sense to get them on his own."

This is curing the symptoms not the disease. I.e. it doesn't cure his personality defects that caused the malicious teasing in the first place.

The fat kid hasn't progressed anywhere. He's still at the same place he was.

Hopefully, he'll make it to the other side though one day.

[Remington]

A lifelong gift to that kid would have been to buy him a gold membership here. Much more valuable than a pair of shoes.

[Beyond Borders]

(12-25-2014 01:41 PM)Kingsley Davis Wrote:  

Could've just stealthly pulled the lad aside and give him the Chinese made crap without the attention whoring for fuck sake.

This misses the fact that the guy sells sneakers. It's a good deed, yeah, but it's also marketing, so keeping it to himself would murder half the point.

I used to do shit like this when I was a teenager - but I kept it to myself. If I'd have been running a business selling what I gave the kid and social media existed at the time, however, it probably would have been a different story.

[Drazen]

(12-25-2014 06:23 PM)monster Wrote:  

He wasn't getting made of because of his sneakers. He was getting made fun of because of who he is. The classmates just chose his sneakers because they are an easy target.

New Jordans are not going to stop the teasing. In fact, people are making fun of him now. They're saying, "What a loser! Someone actually had to give him cool sneakers because he doesn't have the sense to get them on his own."

This is curing the symptoms not the disease. I.e. it doesn't cure his personality defects that caused the malicious teasing in the first place.

The fat kid hasn't progressed anywhere. He's still at the same place he was.

Hopefully, he'll make it to the other side though one day.

I disagree. The exposure will make him a mini-celeb for a brief period of time in the school, along with the guy who gave him the sneakers.

People will want to (fakely) surround him, and he may enjoy the positive attention. People who bully him will be looked down upon by the general social circles of high school since instead of an easy target he was a victim.

He may see the difference in the way that one's appearance and having social credibility will have on the quality of his day to day life. Then again, he kind of looks like he has some sort of autistic/asperger's type look to him, so you never know.

If he quietly gave him the sneakers, there would be no extra "fame game" that accompanies the guy. He'd have new shoes, but no newfound fame in the paper, no more extra exposure, no change in the quality of life. Hell, for all we know, he could end up Prom King because of this.

[Foolsgo1d]

If that kid went into the gym he could be a strong fucking powerlifter come 10 years time.