After spending several hours observing teenagers who were "hanging out" at our local mall, I came to the conclusion that many teenagers in America are living in poverty. Why this conclusion, you ask? Well, let me list the ways.....
Most of the young men I saw did not even own a belt....not one among the whole group. But that was not the sad part. Many of them were wearing their daddy's jeans. Some of the jeans were so big and baggy they hung low on their hips exposing their underwear.
I know some of them sure were ashamed their daddy was short. Why you ask? Because the jeans hardly went below their knees. They were not even their daddies' good jeans. It grieved me that in a modern, affluent society like America, there are people who cannot afford a decent pair of jeans.
I have been thinking about asking my church to start a jeans drive for the "poor kids at the mall." On Christmas Eve, I could go Christmas caroling and distribute jeans to these poor teenagers.
But that was not the saddest part. It was the girls they were "hanging out" with that disturbed me the most. I have never in all of my life seen such "poor" girls. These girls had the opposite problem of the young men.
The girls all had to wear their little sisters' clothes. Their jeans were about five sizes too small. I do not know how they even put them on, let alone button them up. The jeans barely went over their hipbones.
Most of the girls also had on their little sister's top. It hardly covered their midsection. Oh, they were trying to hold their heads up with pride....but it was a sad sight to see these almost grown women wearing children's clothes.
However, it was their underwear that bothered me the most. They, like the boys, because of the improper fitting of their clothes, also had their underwear exposed. It looked like their underwear was only held together by a single piece of string.
I know the subject of the condition of our American teenagers saddens your heart. While we go to bed every night with a closet full of clothes, there are millions of "mall girls" who barely have enough material to keep it together. Perhaps their "poorness" is why these two groups gather at the mall, the boys with their short daddies' ripped jeans and the girls wearing their younger sisters' clothes. The mall is one place where they can find acceptance.
So, the next time you are at the mall doing your shopping and you pass by some of these poor teenagers, would you say a prayer for them?
And one more thing....Will you pray that the guys' pants won't fall down and the girls' strings won't break?
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