A Man and His Shoes

For most of my life, I didn't spend more than a few seconds thinking about shoes...mine, or anyone else's. I remember being amused when my sister, on many occasions, pointed out how silly various unsuspecting passerbys looked with mismatching shoes and belts. What guy would care?

Then I met the Mrs. After I asked her out on our first real date, I became very aware that I didn't have an appropriate pair to wear. Dr. S and I headed out on a shopping trip and I looked at shoes in a new way. Fortunately we picked out a good pair that day. The Mrs. and I wound up walking around the Mall for several hours the next day and I managed to break them in without any blisters.

The second pair of shoes I remember acquiring came on my birthday a month before we got married. The Mrs. bought me a pair of Steve Maddens. I had never heard of Steve Madden, and was leery of a shoe designed by and named for a guy. So I overcompensated a bit by immediately referring to them as my John Maddens. Once people started to notice my shoes and nodded approvingly, I realized the Mrs. had done me a big favor that I had had no clue I was in need of. Perhaps I should have paid attention to my sister years ago.

Over the last three years I've gotten kind of attached to my first two special pairs of shoes. So much so that I've intentionally overlooked the holes in their soles. Sure, it was annoying when little rocks rattled around in the heels, but it was a fun challenge to get them out.

Today, when we took a family outing to the the mall (not the Mall), the Mrs. suggested that I might want to think about getting some new shoes. Being a slower learner on things sartorial, my first reaction was, "why spend money on shoes?" Then the frontal lobes kicked in and I realized a) I should listen to my wife about fashion (for lots of reasons!), b) my current work-horse shoes really were in sad shape, and c) she who inspired my favorite pairs was is a good position to make the call on pulling the plug.

So I am now the proud owner of two new pairs of shoes that I like a lot. The old ones have now been dumped in the trash unceremoniously (but for this post), and I think I have to admit that I've been converted into a guy who cares, at least a bit, about shoes.

But there are limits. Consider the following (from Amazon):
Never before have men's shoes achieved such importance - yet women have been overlooking this most important personality determinant, says author Kathryn Eisman. Offering this book as a guide to understanding men from the ground up, Eisman reveals the secrets of male footwear.

I won't be buying this one...yet!