The following topic is the kind of thing I used to comment upon a great deal in my former church blog. But back then, I was writing about stuff that happened somewhere else – NOT HAGERSTOWN!

And often, with this sort of subject, one feels like one needs to say, “I’m not making this up!”

This is ridiculous!!

Here are some clips from the Herald-Mail article on the incident:

Valley Mall was locked down and temporarily evacuated Saturday morning after more than 100 people became unruly while they were waiting to buy a new Nike sneaker at the Foot Locker shoe store.

About 15 officers from the sheriff’s office, Maryland State Police and Hagerstown Police Department responded to the store after they received a call at 8:10 a.m. that roughly 100 patrons had created a disturbance while waiting in front of the store for the release of the new Nike Foam sneaker.

The Nike Foam

Police said some of the patrons claimed they had been in line waiting to buy the shoes since 7:30 p.m. Friday … after the mall was evacuated and locked down, patrons who were waiting to buy the shoes were escorted into the store a few at a time … no one was arrested because officers couldn’t identify the instigators.

When rare shoes are released to the public, people commonly buy them at a store, then sell them for a higher price over the Internet … the Nike Foam, which costs more than $200, could fetch more than $500 online.

Athletic shoes are great! I’ve spent thousands of dollars on them for all of my runner boys (and thousands myself when I used to run marathons back before the great flood of Noah). But to fight over shoes! Shoes!! Even a $300 profit is not worth it.

But this is where the mind of so much of our culture is – that certain symbols of status have great merit – be it cars, jewelry, clothing … or … shoes!

Ephesians 6:14-15 – Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace…