[ Cheers and applause ]
Be honest -- you got kids?
Do you think they're entitled? -Yeah.
We have kids that don't -- they just don't say "thank" --
my son doesn't say "thank you" like that.
That -- he doesn't --
he's not appreciative. And I'm different.
I grew up with nothing -- humble beginnings.
Getting sneakers when I was growing up was an event.
It was a thing.
We didn't have -- I got sneakers twice a year.
We got sneakers in the beginning of the school year.
And when my grandmother got her income tax,
we knew because she opened the mailbox and said,
"Aye! I got the income tax!"
My grandmother took me to a sneaker store
they don't even have anymore -- Buster Brown's.
And Buster Brown's was a real shoe store.
And you knew that because the dude
working there had on a suit.
When you walked in, he treated you like somebody.
"Welcome to Buster Brown's. What would you like?"
And you felt -- you were, like, "I want to get something."
'Cause at that point, the sneakers I had was broken.
They had a mouth in the front, as my friends would say.
"Yo, Mark's sneakers is hungry."
'Cause my sneakers was, like --
[ Laughter ]
That man at Buster Brown's -- he took those sneakers off,
and he put them to the side.
He brought out these sneakers I had never seen before.
I only heard of them in the streets, you know?
A pair of sneakers called "Wild Cats."
When that man came from behind that little stock room
with the Wild Cats sneaker --
you ever have cold water poured on your back,
and you go like this, here --
[ Laughter ]
That's what happened.
I saw the sneakers, and I went --
[ Gasping ]
[ Laughter ]
He put them on me. He tied the perfect bow.
He said, "Walk around."
And I was walking in the store,
and I was looking at my grandmother.
She said, "How they feel?" I said, "Something's happening."
[ Laughter ]
I feel so, so strong in these I feel strong."
I knew something was happening
because I could feel it in my foot, you know!
My grandmother said, "You want them?"
I said, "Yeah, please."
And we're leaving the store, and I turned,
and I said, "Thank you, sir."
He said, "Hold on. We're not done yet."
And he took out a little package -- a headband.
[ Laughter ]
And the headband had a wildcat right here.
[ Laughter ]
And he put that headband on me.
I'm gonna tell you right now,
I felt the spirit of the wildcat,
'cause he put the headband on me.
I just went -- [ Growls ]
That was all I had!
[ Cheers and applause ]
'Cause the spirit...
the spirit of the wildcat...
it was too much.
We got out that store, and I ran.
When I tell y'all, if y'all would have seen me,
you would have been, like, "Look at him go."
I ran so fast that I got to the street corner
and left my grandmother behind.
And I was standing there, waiting.
I'm, like, "Ma! Hurry up!"
'Cause I couldn't cross the street without her.
I had to wait.
"You're so slow."
They didn't make Grandma Wildcats.
I remember running back towards the neighborhood,
and I got to the block, and all my friends were, like,
"Oh, look at that. Oh."
And I didn't say nothing to them.
I was holding it in.
And I seen my grandfather.
My grandfather was an auto mechanic.
He had his head in the hood, and I could hear --
[ Imitates wrench cranking ]
He's ratcheting away.
And I said, "Papi, look, my sneakers."
He didn't hear me, 'cause he was so into his biz.
I said, "Pop, my sneakers!"
He didn't hear me. I said, "Oh, here it come.
He don't hear."
[ Yowls ]
[ Clang! ]
I scared the hell out of my grandfather.
He hit his head on the hood.
He dropped his beer.
"Why you do that [bleep]"
He chased me for two blocks.
But he couldn't catch me.
[ Laughter ]