What can $20 get you? In some cases, quite a bit.
I got to thinking about this recently as I slipped on my trusty snow boots to go deal with the white stuff outside. As I laced them up, I got to thinking about buying them back in 2004 for a whopping $20.
It was desperation. It was my first winter back in Ohio after living in the South, where snow boots weren’t quite a necessity so much as an oddity. We’d gotten an unexpected snowfall during the day, so I stopped off at a store to find a shovel and some boots.
My boots don’t look like much, this combination of black faux leather and gray webbing. I thought I was wasting my money at the time, but they were all that was left in my size and price range after the Chicken Littles of the world already cleared the place out of bread and milk.
To my surprise, they were quite warm. They were wonderfully waterproof. Most of all, they were extremely slip resistant. Knock on wood, I’ve never fallen while wearing my cheap boots.
Unlike me, they’ve aged well. The black is still black on the boots, unlike the gray that overtook the top of my head. The sole is as strong as ever, something that goes back and forth with my soul. They’re just as tight-laced as they’d ever been, while my psychologic laces have been unraveling for decades.
My Facebook pals seemed to enjoy my question about the best $20 they’d ever spent.
One friend remembered scraping $20 in change together for gas after he left his second wife, using that money to drive and have dinner with all his grandchildren and children. He called it the best time of his life.
Another friend recalled paying her husband $20 to stick his tongue in a bowl of red pepper flakes. She laughed the whole way home from the restaurant because he had pepper flakes stuck in his teeth.
A former co-worker put a $20 tip on a $10 restaurant bill, sensing the waitress was having a really rough day and wanted to brighten it up for her.
A college buddy recalled spending $20 on an all-you-can-eat wing special at Quaker Steak and Lube and earning every penny of it. Another suggested buying 10 “aquarium” beers for $2 each at a college hangout in Athens.
Still another enjoys spending $20 to sneak off to a movie with a small popcorn and soda, especially when the movie is unexpectedly good. Then he joked he’s never been to Tijuana, which might be a better investment.
My wife, on the other hand, disagrees with the best $20 I’ve ever spent. She thinks it’s the $20 admission we spent to go into a haunted house on our first date, a decision that sparked our love affair that turned into a long, happy and fruitful marriage.
It’s a good thing I have those snow boots, so I can hike on out to the doghouse.
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