Shoes

Blog post #74 of 365

Shoes, I just don't get the fascination.

Twice today I watched lovely young women in shoes with tiny spiked heels. The ones that look more like a torture device than a shoe. Both were crossing the street at a very obnoxiously slow rate. One obviously going to work in those things. If I were her boss I think I'd have her go home and change. Workplace injuries might be at issue.

I have noticed many of my friends post photos of shoes on social media sites. Even posing the shoes. Making shoe wish lists. Some post shoes with the notation "Yes Please!" And I just shake my head and think cute yes, but do I want them, no. Would I ever wear them? No.

Some might wonder if it is me because I am tall (6') but no I have had many pairs of heels before. Junior high graduation I wore three inch wedges for example. I just like comfort. Mine and those around me. I noticed people seemed more uncomfortable with the extra inches. Especially male friends of the same or shorter height.

Some might wonder if it is medical issues. My back, knees, and foot all dictate my footwear but that isn't it at all. I've always loved comfortable shoes. Tennis shoes. Vans in my youth and again in my adulthood. Skate shoes period. But after the electrocution I have not desire to increase my pain so I wear what I must. Oddly enough I like what works for me. I am completely comfortable in them and that is all that matters.

I see TV shows, especially fashion programs that tout $1,000.00 shoes or boots and I just don't see it. Maybe I am just more of the practical type. Because even before the medical stuff I just loved getting a deal. Payless had "throw away" shoes. $5 deck shoes that never lasted long but were comfortable and if they got ruined you could feel good about tossing them and getting a new pair. It really galled me that after the accident I couldn't buy a cheap pair of shoes. I was having to purchase $100 shoes and it about killed me. I have found $40 shoes that are way more comfortable and are way more fashionable (you'll just have to trust me on this one) but in the process I went through a very expensive learning curve. I'd get a pair of shoes that I could walk in at the store and find after a week they hurt too much. I mean really it was a tough time.

Back in the day when I had a job I needed to "dress" for I had fashionable flats and my coworkers wore tennis shoes in the door but put on the heels they stashed in the bottom desk drawer after they arrived. Men have it easy. Nobody expects them to put on torture devices in the name of fashion. I mean if men had to wear the heels to work I think they would soon walk in flats forever.

My podiatrist says he wishes the industry would quit making him so busy but then joked that women's fashion choices were job security. My back doctor said something along the same lines. My chiropractor as well. To me that says a lot. I get putting on a great looking pair of shoes for a night out but not to go dancing or walking and certainly not to work unless you're a hooker. (They are out there to sell and the good ones aren't on their feet long.) So to dinner and a movie or theater maybe but there are so many better choices out there. That garbage about heels making your legs look better is only true in some case. Some women just have great legs. Just saying.

Well there you have it. Keep your shoes. Judge my shoes if you want because I have few choices. But I am happy with my comfort, money and sensibility. You can keep you pain and future doctor visits.