keeping up appearances (keeping up with the kardashians)

 From being an apprehensive eighth grader stepping on Troy High grounds for the first time to a seasoned (or so it seems) upperclassman with adulthood staring me in the face, you'd expect that I'd have picked up some clues on how to survive in the "real world".  This is probably one of the most wrong assumptions you could make.  I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, I've only grown more accustomed to the feeling of being completely and utterly lost.

What I have picked up on over the years, under the fluorescent spotlights lining the hallways, are the qualities... rather, the materialistic needs plaguing every "popular" kid in school.  As time went on, I've seen more and more people flaunting how their NorthFace backpacks rest upon their matching coats, all the while complementing their Vera Bradley lanyards or their new Birkenstocks.  School becomes less of a place of education, and more of an outlet for the newest trends to arise, a place where clothing is an indicator of status.  All the world's a stage--with millions of eager understudies ready to assume the lead role.

Within the sheltered communities of suburbia, these subliminal status markers become so inherent that they often slip by unnoticed; however, "the quality of...clothes [threaten] to derange" the impoverished or those rejected by society, it offers reason for their exclusion.  When "fluffy sweaters the color of lemon drops" or "brightly colored knee socks with white borders" become the epitome of what it means to be loved, the border between material wealth and acceptance blur together until perhaps there is no longer a distinction between them in society's eyes at all.  

While staying up with the latest trends is just a matter of personal privilege for many of us, it deteriorates the self-confidence for others.  It offers a false explanation as to why certain members of society are treated as lesser than others, why they just can't fit in-- while the real root of this is simply consumerism and society's expectation that money equates love.  After all, how do we show our utmost care and respect for family and friends?  We buy them the most expensive gifts on the store shelves, of course! 

 In the end, though, we all just wish to be accepted, and never feel like we are.  In the end, we are all just keeping up appearances, our real insecurities deeply buried under parkas and hunter boots.