Duly Noted: “What I got I paid for…”

By Jarrett in : Duly Noted, Jarrett Hill // Jun 11 2010

Recently I was in church and the preacher was talking about how we can be fooled into a false sense of a security by things that appear to be one thing, but in fact are another. He said “look for the knock-offs.” He went on to give the example of the infamous designer knock-off watches, purses, and other high-end items people find for the cheapskee at a random cart. “Be careful, you always get what you pay for,” he warned. “Watch out for what you don’t have to pay much for…”

It got me to thinking about life’s knock-offs and how we always get what we pay for and how the cheap knock-offs offer us little more than the look of something else, but the issues that come along with something cheap.

When you go and purchase a Coach purse, you also get the peace of mind of knowing your bag is backed up by the Coach name. If the item is defective, Coach has your back. The materials are high quality, the craftsmanship is some of the best available, and the name is well respected, something they’re commited to maintaing. When you buy a Rolex watch you get a product that you know is of the highest caliber, a guarantee on the piece’s ability and a justified list of expectations for what it should do. You get what you pay for.

But when you by that “Goach” purse from Mario on the corner of 16th and Bad News Blvd, you get a little less. When the threading comes undone, you’d be lucky if Mario knew who you were when you came to return it, let alone receive a refund. When you jump into the pool wearing the “Rolex” watch he sold you and it stops ticking, he’ll likely laugh at you when you ask him to replace it. You got what you paid for.

How many of us have tried taking a shortcut where we knew that we should take a better route? Cheated on a test, not told the truth when it was easy to do so, took the cheaper buy when we could’ve waited and paid a little more. At the end of the class, you got the cheap good grade, but didn’t leave with much knowledge because you’d not learned. You may have gotten away with what you lied about, but you feel guilty and are always worried about being found out. Your cheaper alternative broke down long before you were ready for it to. You got what you paid for.

Jill Scott has a song called “Hate on Me,” in the chorus she says, “Go ‘head and hate on me hater // I’m not afraid ‘cause // what I got I paid for.” The lyric there didn’t have much significance to me until I saw her perform the song live a few times and noticed the subtle way she emphasized the words. “What I got I paid for,” was accompanied by a touch of her fingertip to her eye, that traced down her face, seemingly, implying the tracing of a teardrop. To me, it said that whatever she was speaking of getting didn’t come at a small price. It cost her something significant enough to bring about at least a single tear. But because of the cost of the gift, lesson, or other unnamed virtue, she wasn’t afraid to face whatever the trial was again.

What she got she paid for.

She got what she paid for.

Duly noted.

Below, Jill Scott performs “Hate on Me” (from the album The Real Thing) at VH1 SoulStage…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cPur8EbdO4]