a shoe story...

...that requires a back story, sort of amusing now after all the intervening years. When they were very small, the responsible adult got to  make all the decision, about color and cost. Mostly evaluating for durability, sturdiness while wondering if the feets would outgrow the shoes before they wore them out.

Then they got to the age that Mom became a liability, while being a necessity due to being the holder of the financial resources. When the time came for making new purchases to cover the extremities, the final decision was sure to be an arduous compromise. She would want this, and I would only be willing to pay for that. The outcome would consist of me saying: "This is how much I will pay. I am sure you can find something within that range, but if you want to get the colorful, fashionable, name-brand, highly desired ones the peers have on - you will have to come up with the 'difference'." More often than not, there was a suitable shoe on sale for $49.99.

Now you see how my mindset is such that I think shoes should always cost less than fifty bucks. But my feets are a long way from my brain, and possibly too far from my wallet. The feets, when I put in long days at work, standing on the rock-hard concrete/tile floor, always hurt. I've gotten on first name basis with the podiatrist, and have some custom made supports/insoles that do help somewhat. Part of the problem is just age, as I am told the fatty cushioning on the bottoms, tends to thin out disperse. (I am thinking that, due to Murphy's Law, the fatty stuff has migrated to my midsection, in spite of what you would expect of gravity?)

But somehow my frugality would not allow me to buy expensive shoes that might make the long days of being upright for hours on end more tolerable. Fortunately I found someone who would persuade me otherwise. When I asked for advice - or  maybe just consent/approval - to invest in shoes that sell for over $100 plus shipping, I found: logic. What she said: 'Mom, if you find something that makes your feet happy, you need to buy it.' And furthermore: 'If you wear the shoes for one hundred days and you pay one hundred dollars for the shoes, you have actually only paid one dollar a day while making your day much more bearable.'  I have to agree, that is a good, reasonable investment.

And I like them so well, I have purchased a second pair. They even make them to be work shoes, meaning the non-skid kind I am supposed to be wearing, to be working on a floor that is often wet and slick. I  have not yet worked up my willingness to fork over the hard earned cash for such seriously ugly shoes.