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The reason you love sneakers changes as you grow. Some people follow players and cop the signature shoe. In high school, it’s a style thing. And when you get your first job, you buy every Jordan in sight just to make up for lost time or cheap parents. But when you’re a ten-year-old, there’s one reason you buy J’s: to jump higher.

Eddie Huang. Fresh off the Boat, pg 43

Eddie Huang speaks the truth.

I went through every stage he mentions here.

In 8th grade it was all about the Penny Hardaway’s.

In high school it was about coordinating my kicks with my outfits, and searching for a pair that stood out, that no else had, like my North Carolina blue Cortez’s.

When I was pushing in shopping carts at Winn-Dixie and finally starting to earn my own scratch, it was greed. Buying as many kicks as I could swipe my debit card through at Champs Sports.

And yeah, at 10 it was all about the dream of jumping higher.

Now J’s are all about being the only pair of kicks that don’t aggravate my corn.

One.