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sunshine jen: Shoes
Last Sunday evening, while I sat on an iron bench and sipped some tea, a young woman and an old man walked by. They walked side by side and talked of the kind of stuff you talk about while walking down the street.
They could've been family or friends or even lovers. Their clothes even matched. He wore a white top and salmon pink shorts while she wore a black capris and pink and black tank top. They walked with the same walk which wasn't really a walk at all. It was more a hobble. He hobbled because he was obviously old. She hobbled because she had 3 inch heels with straps wrapped her ankles. These shoes were all the rage this summer, but they give your ankle no freedom of movement.
Watching them walk away, I reached the conclusion that younger women should date older men. Older men won't make you walk faster when you have on really cute but impractical shoes. Older men won't mind that you tower over them. Older men probably have some good stories to tell. As for the advantages of the younger woman, well, she's younger.
But getting back to the shoes, I've never been a shoe fanatic. New shoes just don't give me the thrill that a new handbag does. However, I do appreciate a good pair of shoes. When I went back to NY, I realized just how much my shoe wearing habits have changed.
In LA, I wear a lot of thin-soled, cute and girlie shoes. I only have to walk on them when I get into the car then out of the car then into somewhere. In NY, I wore my New Balance runners practically the whole time. They were comfortable, thick soled and I could hike around in them. I tried wearing flip flops, but I got paranoid about having exposed feet.
I have strange toes. Yes, I feel confident enough to confess that. My 'ring' toe (aka the toe next to the pinky toe) comes out of my foot above the other toes. As a result, my foot print only has four toes, but my special fifth toe is quite visible on the toe row. This little inconsistency is consistent on both feet. My feet have always been like that (it's a birth defect), and for many years, I thought everyone else had weird feet.
My ring toe makes buying shoes---especially strappy sandals quite a challenge. So often the straps cut right across the top toe thus rendering the sandals completely useless to my purposes. I usually do well with close toe shoes as long as I have space for the toe. I flip flop on flip flops. If they cut into my feet badly, they're useless. I do have a great pair of flip flops that I got in Mexico.
I'm not a big fan of super high heels. Even though I find the occasionally cute pair, I feel like a skyscraper in them.
I own twenty-two pairs of shoes. I recently counted them while cleaning out my closet. My significant other can not understand why I need twenty-two pairs of shoes especially since the majority of them are black. He just doesn't understand that each pair is different and fulfills a different need.
All in all, I like shoes. They are a good thing. They cover up my feet. I don't like running around barefoot. I was always the kid who stepped on the sharp stone or the bee. As a result, I have city feet instead of Hobbit feet.
I also like socks too.
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