Homework #34 Cool Pose

Society provides us with different options of which cool role we want to fill. The main ones include the jock, the cheerleader, the nerd, the hipster kid, the bully, the drama queen. These are found usually in the stereotypical white high school. But even in more diverse places this often occurs. The real question is that where do the people get grouped in that don't fit in any of these roles. Sure, some of them slip through the cracks and become misfits but still that is categorizing. That is still a group and role. But those of us who don't fit into these roles are left without anything to relate too. We all try and find a role because it serves as a way to guide us. We have something or someone to relate to.
Cool is a risk and often a bad choice. Only in rare cases do the cool kids of high school stay cool throughout their life. Friday Night Lights, a book by H.G Bissinger really portrays this. The book is about a high school football team and how they are completely worshiped by the entire town. Everyone in school knows them and looks up to them. They are never expected to do their homework and are given free meals all over town. The interesting part is after they graduate their senior year. Out of a roster count of 78, only 4 members of the team go on to a full 4 year college, the rest of them go on to work low income jobs and support the next class of high school football stars. It is interesting how one week they are the heroes of their town and riding the top of the world and then suddenly they have to settle for this low class meaningless life and have trouble adjusting to it.
The fact that many ghetto black kids spend so much money on shoes instead of saving it for college makes sense to me. They are grown up in an environment where very few people of their own race end up attending college and therefore have a tough time having these aspirations. Where poverty is so crucial people want to show so badly that they have overcome it. Attending college just does not have the same immediate affect. Wearing flamboyant expensive clothing shows that poverty has no affect on this person. It remains ironic to me that they are able to afford all these expensive clothing but always complain that they barely even have the money to put food on the table. We are way too shortsighted to notice what would be best for us in the long run.