Today I had to have x-rays for my dentist and probably because of my most foul humor during the last weeks I decided to do something different, dust my shoes and put them on not being very proud of that but after all it is not a bad idea breaking habits and besides if you stay barefoot for a very long time you grow to forget how much more comfortable it feels. It was long time since the last time I wore those things and I had to search a bit for them, black Reebok sneakers I bought in 2005, still looking like mint new. As soon as I got out of the car, at the Very First Step the sole limped away from shoe upper, revealing that it had been merely glued in place, I took that as a sign of destiny and tossed them back in the car along with socks with mixed feelings of relief and disappointment, so currently I don't own a pair of shoes anymore, if we exclude my old finnish-made combat boots (bought in 1991) that don't fit any longer my foot anyway, apparently grown too bulky for being squeezed into them again, and beside that the leather has become as hard and brittle as wood, but at least those boots were properly built and sewn. Had another pair but I gave them to my stepdad in 2006, I paid for those but never came to put them on even once. So, after all, that must be destiny at work...
I was going to start a thread about coming back from a shoe relapse. The shoe habit can come back and it becomes normal to wear them again. And becomes "convenient".
Convenience is quite a tall word for me. Always had issues with shoes and the best I can expect is a pair of stinky socks in almost no time, shortly followed by blisters. As a small child I was forced (because hey! they cost MONEY!) into "corrective" shoes that hurt like hell and were later deemed "completely wrong" so to add insult to the (actual) injury they did. Also they were oddly shaped frankenstein shoes that made me a choice target for the mockery of other children, in addition to being the hated stranger from the north and of another religion, so I was pretty much set up there for some super fun time, getting accustomed to get into fights since 1st grade. Having feet of different size and shape I'm assured that every shoe is a lousy fit for me, plus they mess with my sense of balance. Not the best form of convenience really.
Shoe relapses can happen. People up north especially , I don't care how tough you are -20 degrees you are not outside barefoot very long.
I live in the American Midwest. It gets down to -30 windchill in winter. But anything below freezing is uncomfortable! I go barefoot because it's PLEASURABLE, not out of some sense of endurance.
