Saturday, May 23, 2009

The search ends

After much searching and contemplation during the past few weeks I have finally been able to settle on a pair of shoes. This may sound mundane and perhaps even superficial to most, but my feet have generally been my friends, through good times and bad, through drunk and sober nights alike. My frakking leg on the other hand is another story, which I can talk about over a beer sometime.

The shoe search was pretty much doomed by a preference for keeping feet dry, and as I do reside in a region where rain is predominant, it seemed like a safe bet. But gore-tex is just no substitute for general comfort and cushioning. I am sure that can be said for a lot of situations. After staking out many a shoe store (from the inside of course) I came to a most disconcerting revelation: the shoe industry does not cater to men's sizes below 41 European. So the search was complicated by another element: I can either walk around in big shoes, or perfect fitting women's shoes. The wisdom of the latter would not have been so faulty (HEY, if the shoe fits, wear it!) had it not been for the colors. Now, it should be said that I am colorblind, something I am reminded of weekly whenever a powerpoint presentation at work becomes, let's just call it "creative", and being a proponent of the arts, I have to support this kind of initiative (you know who you are!). However, I could not bring myself to wear bluestriped shoes. I may not know colors, but I do have some sense of self-respect.

In the end, I found a pair of shoes that was indeed created for men (by men) in a decent color (black, the only color I can with little or no problem see. People say that one shouldn't judge the world in terms of black and white, well that is often quite NOT helpful to me at all). Of course it cost me my shirt, one of the colored ones I don't care much for!