So happy, shoe happy…
Sometimes, as a writer/blogger, you start with an idea, no certainty of how far it can take you, where it will go and…basically just dive right in and start typing. This is one of those times.
Where my love for shoes came from is really anybody’s guess. I don’t remember having more than one pair of shoes at any time, growing up as one of seven kids, five boys and two girls. Hand me downs was the rule of the day with clothes, but maybe not so with shoes. I mean, you had to have at least one pair to wear to school and we were not a family that could afford much more than the basic necessities. In fact, when we were not in school, we usually ran around barefooted at home. Callouses were so well developed on the soles of our feet that I could run barefooted on gravel. Our driveway was topped with gravel and I thought nothing of running back and forth on it barefooted. Two feet, one pair of shoes, for school, then for church on Sunday. That’s it.
Fast forward about sixty years and I find that I need another pair of shoes. Actually, in reality, there’s no legitimate reason why I will ever need to buy another pair of shoes for the rest of my life, truth be known. Does that mean I won’t ever WANT another pair of shoes? Unlikely. Left foot, right foot. One pair of feet can only wear one pair of shoes at a time. I know that. Are six pairs of shoes considered excessive? Ten? How about twelve pairs, all Converse, in different colors? You see it’s all really a matter of personal preference. But when the number exceeds 45, I’ve admittedly gone way past the point of being able to justify buying one more pair. Let me clarify that number. It’s not 45 pairs of Converse shoes, just twelve. And I rarely buy a pair unless they’re on sale. How pair do you have in your closet? Hey, there are many others out there that have more than I do and I have seen evidence of this at many of the estate sales that I’ve been to. I bet those people would have understood. So, how do I end up with so many? Well, one reason is that I’ve kept and continued to put miles on shoes that I’ve had for over ten years. Do you? Consider this. The more shoes you have, the less miles you put on each pair and so they tend to last a lot longer. Okay I just made that up but theoretically, it could make perfect sense. Everyone has their favorites, their preferred pair, if you will, and THEY get the mileage, while the other pairs wait quietly in the closet, hoping for an opportunity to “go for a walk”. I’m not one to buy a new pair just because it’s fashionable, trendy, etc. Comfort first followed by price, (sale price always) are important criteria but let’s face the facts. Cut to the chase, so to speak. I like shoes so I need a better plan. First, I either have to dump or donate shoes that have “expired”. When I say expired, I mean out with the old and in with the new. One pair shows up and that means one pair must go. And anything I’ve had over a year goes to Goodwill, destined for a new home and a different pair of feet. That will bring the overall count down a bit. Then, with Nike being my preferred brand of shoe, I think that I need to send them a letter and see if I can work out some kind of endorsement deal, like the professional athletes have and start getting my shoes for free (get paid and get shoes). It would be the first endorsement deal of it’s kind, a concept built around the idea that Nike is the preferred choice of the older, but still active and athletic generation. Squeeze a few more dollars out of the comfortably retired and fixed income, social security segment of the population. It could work. Look around you and you’ll see that senior citizens like to wear comfortable, athletic shoes, like Nike.
My alternate idea involves dumping or donating my older pairs of shoes while simultaneously coaxing my wife into adding to her collection (which sits at about 12 pairs right now) until she has more shoes than I do. ( I may have to get rid of three pairs for every one that she purchases to speed things up a little.) Then,……when she ends up with more shoes than I have……… I start the whining and complaining about “needing’ a new pair. Probably won’t work, now that I think about it. Hmmmm……there must be another way.