Clothes FREE Recreation

THIS WEEK the New York Times ran an article about the escalating costs of youth sports called Big Price Tags Attached to Even Littlest Leagues .  The story quoted figures as steep as $200 and up for baseball bats and $11,000+ yearly travel budgets for even pint sized players! The writer later hints at having nostalgia for the simpler days of cheap stick ball and sandlot games.

While we’re on the subject of longing for the days of less expensive sportswear, can we suggest a return to skinny-dipping?  There are no expensive swimsuits to buy.  Just as importantly, birthday suits are always ready to put on wherever we go.  We’ve all got one too!

Somewhere along the way towards convincing us that we “need” $200 bats and expensive cleats to win Little League games, the apparel companies also convinced us that the only “decent” way to swim is in long baggy shorts. Or wearing things that look like the wetsuits Jacques Cousteau used to wear to scuba at hundreds of meters deep!  These leave only ankles and forearms “exposed” to sun and water.

Fight back!  Get a cheap kiddie pool at Wal-Mart and go swimming in it completely naked in your own backyard.  Let your kids do the same.

After all, you’re going to need the money you’ll save on swimwear to buy that Louisville Slugger from Louis Vitton.