Forget collecting baseball cards or coins, the latest fad has to be sneaker buying, selling, and trading. Personally, I have no interest in buying $200 sneakers but I decided to take my brother and his friends to one of the sneaker events to check it out.

The event was at the Westbury recreation center. Parking was limited and the building was very small. When we walked in where two men patted us down and asked for a $20 entry fee. It was a zoo; tables were all around with different guys selling shoes. The odor was horrendous. The gym smelt like a public bathroom and “skunk.”

My brother had two pairs of shoes he was interested in selling or trading. He gave me one pair and instructed me to walk around with the box with one of the shoes on top as a display technique to sell.

Walking around the facility, I had all different kinds of people approach me trying to persuade me to trade with them. I didn’t even need my brother to say no for him, these people would offer garbage shoes that looked like they had been to hell and back. It was a definitive NO! When I told these people no they would give me a dirty look as if “how dare you say no to me?” like you owed them something. Then they looked like they wanted to mug me.

The best was when a little man gave me an offer for a pair of sneakers for less than face value. I simply laughed in his face, I couldn’t believe it.

Meanwhile as you’re trying to sell and walk around, people were playing basketball on the tiniest court possible. We had to watch our head for flying balls. Angry at my brother for dragging me to this travesty of an event, he explained, “ This one wasn’t good, the last one was better.” He then had the hutzpah to ask me to take him to one in the city later in the month. I quickly shot that idea down as I told him he has a better chance of seeing pigs fly or me voting Democratic than getting me to go to another one of those “classy” events.

Jonathon Dutton, another sneaker head, claims he “loves sneakers because he likes the way they look and he can make money off of them. He says they “keep him from doing other bad things.” Interesting to say the least. Justin Grieco said, “I have spent about $1500 on my collection. Sneakers represent my personality. It’s a lifestyle.”

Personally, incase you can’t tell already, I have no interest in spending money on, waiting on line overnight, and trading and buying overpriced sneakers. I much prefer buying the $59.99 basketball sneakers at Marshalls that were “in-style” probably 6 months ago. The whole fad is a joke but it is obviously something to recognize and take note of because it is out there ALIVE AND WELL.