A few days ago, I was speaking to a man who teaches classes in the North Carolina prison system. These classes are for those inmates who are within a year of being paroled or finishing their sentence. He teaches basic life skills like how to search for a job, interview for a job, and basic personal finance and budgeting skills. He shared his shock with me when his students wanted to include $1,000 a month in their budget for “bling”. He chuckled at the thought. At that time, I thought “bling” was only nice clothes and asked if him if he taught skills in washing clothes? $1000 a month for clothes? It sounded ludicrous.
I pondered these things and researched the term. “Bling” is considered slang and as I give links for the definition, be warned; it is a street term in many regards, the definition will reflect that fact. But, I felt pushed forward to know more as I had spent many years at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). They taught their members how to wash clothes, iron clothes and fold and store clothes and even which dry cleaner to go to in town. But, looking back and remembering some things Jane Whaley said about her clothes and how she acted; I wondered if there was WOFF bling? Did/does Jane have a “bling budget”? Well, we know she did/does not tell her members what her budget was/is or how she spends the tithes and offerings. So, we can’t know for sure but, we can observe her actions and maybe know.
Bling – Bling (or bling-bling) is a slang term popularized in hip hop culture, referring to flashy, ostentatious or elaborate jewelry and ornamented accessories that are carried, worn or installed, such as cell phones or tooth caps. The concept is mostly associated with rappers, but recently has expanded to include tacky “white trash” types. (resource link- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bling-bling )
Well, honestly, I could not say that Jane and her crew wore “flashy ostentatious or elaborate jewelry” and I have never seen a flashy cell phone or a tooth cap on Jane. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of jewelry on the leadership women and some others, but, I can’t say it is flashy. But, I searched on.