Another thing to be thankful for

America is clothing hungry. Let me explain, many people in the United States own more than twenty pairs of clothes. Now if you ask me, ten or twelve is average, while thirteen is pushing it and seven or eight is maybe not quite enough. Still at school I see people that have any assortment of odd clothing mixed and matched outfits. This is not bad of course, but why do we need to have so many choices? Our ancestors who came to America came with “only the clothes on my back and the food in my stomach.” They made it through their experience. By today’s standards this would mean that you were dirty and a social outcast, I have to agree with this, for if you wore the same clothes for weeks until you could find another pair cheap I would imagine that you may not smell or look very good. This is not my point, however. Despite the need of hygiene, they still got along just fine in their voyage to America, or else none of us would be here at this present time.

Here is another example. This is a corny example but it once again proves my point. Remember Dobby the house elf from the Harry Potter series that I am sure that most of us have read? Now he did not even have a pair of clothes! He got along fine (Ok, not fine, he had an evil owner, but he made it in only a pillowcase). He shows that even in extreme poverty people could make it through with the most meager of apparel.

Last year my family had some friends from France come and stay with us for a few days. I could not help but notice that they wore the exact same outfit every single day; it sort of grossed me out. When I asked my mom why they did not change their clothes, she replied that in France they routinely wear the same clothes every day until they get a stain or until they are visibly dirty. This seems really gross to me, my whole life I have been raised in a home where after you have worn something, you wash it, but in France I guess it is not like that. I guess that it does not make much difference to them if they have already worn the clothes, which goes to show that different countries have very different customs than others.

Now please, if you are reading this, don't think that I am saying we should all go and throw away all of our clothes but one pair, or that we should walk around in pillowcases. That would be really, really gross. I am just saying that in numerous cases other beings have been alright without twenty pairs of clothes. Also don't think that I am encouraging us to wear our clothes four times before we wash them, that is also gross. Just be thankful for the clothes we have and not be constantly in the want for more.

So next time you go to the store and decide to spend your recently earned twenty dollars on a great new shirt, just imagine yourself next to Dobby the house elf and consider how much you really want that shirt, and if you really do want it, then buy it by all means. If you don’t really need it, then don’t buy it. The choice is simple as that.