  I was driving around the other day and just happened to pass two cars with big, shiny hubcaps, low bodies, and tinted windows. I saw two late 20s to 30 something year old men, stooped in the front seat, music blaring. I thought about all the rap music I listen to which seems to espouse above all else the worth of a man as the type of car he drives, the jewelry he wears, and most ridiculously, the diameter of his hubcaps. I thought, there are thousands and thousands of adolescent males and females of all races and economic backgrounds that have somehow been led to believe that what is important in life is to have rims on your tires that stay spinning while you sit at a stoplight. Neither of the gentlemen I passed that day were economically well-off, but their cars were well-kept. I think one was a Ford Escort.
Who knows, and I know I'm stereotyping here, they probably have a few children here and there, a bad job, an unhappy woman or two, no real future. Yet ignorant kids all over probably go googaw over those rims. Hell, it must be a source of pride for them. Maybe some street kids think they are "the man," maybe they love to hear "damn, look at them rims! " Maybe they actually convince some down-on-her-luck hoochie mama that they are worth something and get laid on occasion because of it. They probably watch "Pimp my Ride" on MTV, or at least have some admirers that have.
I know, because for some short period of time in Jr. High School I too knew the names of the older guys who would drive past the school and rattle the windows. Funny, now I have just the opposite reaction. I take one look at these people and think, what a sucker. You materialistic moron, don't you think I can see straight through the fact that your values show how ignorant you are? Don't you think I pity the children of the idiot that somehow thinks that by squandering his money on a few shiny baubles for his car and driving around he can somehow make me look twice at him? I know what you are.
Now I realize that this isn't a new theme. People have always envied and emulated wealth. People used to horde jewelry as a source of wealth in hard times. People preferred to have something solid that wouldn't lose its worth as quickly as paper currency, and you could maybe say that in this day and age $20,000 rims would be sucked up by a pawn shop just as easily as a diamond ring, But I think it's a bit simpler than that. Truth is, these people want to show off, to appear like something they aren't, to feel self worth. I understand that.
I just want them to know that that I'm not impressed. Go get a job, love your kids, drive a shitty car and buy little Jimmy a Wal-Mart bike. Teach your kids the value of being honest, laugh at yourself, invest in your future. If you do that, maybe someone over the age of 17 will respect you. 
