The Love of a Good Shoe

[qos]

I'm wearing a pair of walking shoes that feel like the loving embrace of a strong man: firm, structured, supportive, tender.

I don't like to go clothes shopping. I never have.
I especially do not like shoe shopping.
I do not particularly care about shoes one way or the other.

I just had a wonderful time buying shoes -- and I am in love with not one but two pairs of shoes.

I went to Shane's Foot Comfort Center, one of the 3-Day outfitters. Their 3-Day listing offered a 20% discount on shoes and socks for 3-Day walkers, and their own web site promised that long-time shoe professionals would ensure a great fit.

They were right.

I'd never met a shoe geek before -- but Ron was an utter shoe geek. A soft-spoken man in his sixties, he helped me find the recommended two pairs of walking shoes, then helped me try on a dozen office casual shoes. His knowledge was amazing, as was his concern for ensuring that my non-matching, wide feet were perfectly cared for.

As the opening line of this post indicates, I'm giddy about the shoes I'm wearing now -- and the other pair, still in its box, is just as wonderful.

Tonight's training walk is going to be a very different experience than all the rest.

Comments

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

I especially do not like shoe shopping.

Hee! It's like you're speaking Dutch... I can see the words, but I just CAN'T UNDERSTAND THEM...:)

I'm glad you found some comfy shoes! Sounds like Ron needs to be a regular pal of yours.

[oakmouse]

(from one fellow shoe sufferer to another) Look at your shoes! OOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

*g*

I will run a mile in tight shoes to avoid going shoe shopping. I normally have to go for either men's walking shoes or something funky to get the fit my weirdly shaped, wide, long feet require. I have no women's dress shoes, except for one pair of cleverly disguised orthopedic sandals that I've had for 17 years. (They're in Cheyne-Stokes breathing at this point so I have to go shoe shopping soon. Bleah.) They don't make women's dress shoes in whatever the women's equivalent of a men's size 9EEEE is. Probably a women's 12FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. :-p Or if they make them, they don't sell them anywhere outside of Germany. (I'd love to go shoe-shopping in Germany because I'd have no trouble finding shoes that fit, but the airfare is too steep for my budget and the jet lag would kill me. Would that my Bavarian great-great-grandmother had left a lifetime supply of shoes for me instead of just leaving me the genes for her feet.)

Anyway, that one pair of sandals came from Shane's. They're wonderful people. Treat them like pure gold, than which they are more rare!

[qos.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely going to cultivate an ongoing relationship with Russ and treat him very, very well.

And the next time I see them, I'll tell them I have a friend who's remembered them for 14 years.

[oakmouse]

Do, please! I'd still be shopping there if I lived less than 600 miles away. ;)

[oakmouse]

I'm wearing a pair of walking shoes that feel like the loving embrace of a strong man: firm, structured, supportive, tender.

BTW, love the metaphor. ;)

[qos.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I don't often use images like that and look for recognition, but I was proud of this one and was definitely hoping for some acknowledgement. ;-)

[a-belletrist.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, I may have to visit them for my second pair. Because another one is in my future. I love my Brooks shoes, but I can already tell I'll want a second pair, and it sounds like Shanes has a wider variety than where I went (who were shoe geeks as well).

YAYAYAYAYYY! for your new pair! I can't wait to hear how tonight's walking went for you.

[qos.livejournal.com]

I got two pairs of Brooks: one more structured, one lighter.

That night's walking went very well -- even if I was interrupted at the conclusion of mile two by _storyteller_'s exquisitely prepared tuna, salsa and soba noodles. . . . Then I went back and did my third mile.

Oh, and I got my pink lanyard in the mail today for having raised my first $500!

[professor-mom.livejournal.com]

You're lucky you can go shoe shopping. I have to buy shoes in a catalog due to wide feet and a bad bunion. :(

[professor-mom.livejournal.com]

PS, I also love the similie of the shoes and the man.

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

Another source for shoes that work is Chick's on Mercer Island: they've been in pretty much the same neighborhood since the 'Forties. They start with generally well-structured shoes, and if necessary will rebuild to customize the fit. pathdancer bought some shoes there for dancing last year, and they carved the sides of the shoe opening to clear her ankles and re-positioned the straps so they sat across her foot properly.