Modern Issues (Stanely Cups + Sephora Kids)

Okay I hate to discuss hot topics on a site that's quite isolated from major social media sites, but I'm bored. Over the past few weeks, many discussions have arised about Stanely cups as a status symbol and addiction and rise of kids going to Sephora ruining displays and annoying customers.

First, the Stanely cups. Honestly, Stanelys on their own are pretty harmless. If someone told me they had one, I wouldn't harbor any strong feelings. However, if you were to own multiple, have a thousand accessories, etc., that's where my suspicions would rise. Obviously we're all victims of consumerism; I like things too! But making one thing your entire personality is a bit much. It's okay to like a brand but if you make that your defining trait, you're selling out and look like an advertiser to everyone else (which is sometimes intentional). Also, it's okay to make of fun of this situation since it's mostly adults choosing to buy these cups. In fact, I've seen some funny reels/shorts about the whole craze. I find it funny that the internet has decided to make fun of this phenomenon now, since Stanelys were at their peak a while ago. I'm pretty sure Stanelys have now become overrated, and when that happens, "vultures" come in and attack an already dying trend. I wonder what will be next on the chopping block in terms of trends...

Next, Sephora kids. I have a lot to say about this one! Many people, including Sephora employees have been complaining about the amount of unsupervised children have been entering their stores. They have been destroying try me products and bothering customers and employees. Although there's nothing extremely explicit about Sephora, I've always seen it as an "adult" store, meaning children need to be accompanied by adults while inside. I rarely went to Sephora when I was a kid, and when I did, I was accompanied by my mom. I was also told to not touch the try me products since they were unsanitary (they still are, and this an effective way to tell a child to not touch something). One thing I dislike about this discourse is the focus on the kids and making fun of them. They're children, and for the most part, this phenonmenon is not their fault. Part of the issue is that there's nowhere for kids and tweens to hang out anymore, and there aren't really any stores for tweens. Parents are also mostly to blame, why are you allowing your tweens to be in Sephora unattended? As a tween, I was mostly with a parent or a group of friends.  I hope some parents revised their techniques after seeing this blow up. Again, the children aren't at as much fault as people think. Adults making fun of children is so silly to me, children are stupid and making fun of them accomplishes nothing. We were all stupid children at some point anyway.