OPINION: Fashion trumps compassion
Despite the great snow and fantastic snowboarding opportunities, the cold weather brings many discomforts and annoyances to us. Because I need to wear gloves, extra pairs of socks, a thick chunky scarf, a hat and possibly even a face mask, most of my extremely stylish wardrobe has been covered and thus ruined.
In my desperate attempt to put together a cute and fashionable outfit in the negative degrees in Logan – I turn to boots.
Footwear can be our saving grace. Suede flat boots with a buckle near the ankle can complete a rocker chic look and a tan pair of suede mocassin boots with a fringe down the side will compliment a bohemian style.
But an evil lurks around the corner. The salt poured on the ice to keep us safe from falling over the place is the arch nemesis of my boots.
For some strange reason salt and suede are two things that do not mix. The salt that has been poured on the ground infiltrates my boots and turns them into something that looks like throwing up stomach acid. Needless to say, my boots are 10 times less cute than they were the day before.
Of course I understand salt has to be poured on the ground to keep us all from falling on our faces while we trudge through the snow that permeates our campus. But when the salt gets on my favorite pair of boots, I cringe and resist the urge to blurt out a long string of expletives.
I know this is the same thought that goes through plenty of other girls’ heads in the winter. It’s one of the most annoying and uncontrollable things that happens to us. We can’t control what salt gets put where, but we also don’t have enough money to buy expensive leather boots that will last us a lifetime.
The life of an American college student is stressful. On top of studying and working and learning about the wonders of the world, I have to worry about the condition of my poor boots.
Nevermind the fact that this summer I witnessed firsthand the horrific poverty level in Ethiopia. People were crammed together living in shacks made out of corrugated tin. Children didn’t have any shoes at all, rural villagers walked miles on market day with a donkey in order to buy food for their family. Though the rivers ran dirt brown, women filled their water bottles because it was the only water source available.
Discard the notion of worrying about someone else’s problems during the cold winter months. There are children and families in our own Cache Valley struggling to pay their heating bills and feed their kids. But the dilemma of keeping my boots up to par is far more important.
What college student has time to worry about the economic problems of our globe when we can spend our social hours on campus whining about how cold it is or how we have to continuously wipe snow off our cars in order to enjoy a warm ride to school?
Who has time to think about international crises when the inversion in Cache Valley blocks out the sun for a month? I’m too busy posting screenshots of the temperature on Facebook and Twitter with my iPhone 5 to consider the problems of a less fortunate person.
I’m too lazy to get out of my bed in the morning to face the cold, I can’t afford to eat any more Burger King, the smog in my town is giving me a slight cold today and I have to give up my Victoria’s Secret shopping addiction.
Tell that to the starving children in Ethiopia.
– Danielle Manley is a staff writer and a senior studying print journalism and communication studies. Send comments to daniellekmanley@gmail.com