Or ‘Buying Shoes Sucks’.
We buy shoes very rarely, pretty much only when the old pair is nearly destroyed (or in my husband’s case entirely destroyed). This weekend we had to concede defeat and get both normal shoes and motorcycle boots for my husband as both had bit the dust.
For most people this is not an ordeal.
But for my husband?
He’s flat footed. Completely flat footed… they’re one smooth callous on the bottom from edge to edge. Not even a hint of an arch.
You would THINK that they would have specialty shoes for this or even just really wide shoes, but it’s a struggle every time. He needs shoes that are wide enough for his feet, that allow the shoe to bulge out on the side, and that don’t have added arch. He also needs them to be in his size so they aren’t boats.
95% of shoes, it seems, don’t fit that criteria.
Also, he only wants to wear plain black shoes. Not tennis shoes. No patterns or color variation. Black on black on black.
So every time we go, it’s a pain to find something he likes. This doesn’t mean HE is a pain, just that the market is a pain because it’s not profitable for the local shoe stores to carry anything for him. We can’t buy online, and we buy so rarely no one stocks anything locally.
But! We had a miracle day!
We found a good pair of black shoes after about 45 minutes of looking, AND an ankle boot that would do for riding motorcycle. The pair he has now has a hole worn in from the clutch, and are a size too large to allow width for his feet so they’re like boats.
The new pair is cheaply made, but fits well and are fairly cute.
So I’m happy.
He’s happy.
The store made money so they’re happy.
Everyone’s happy. *smile*
Do you have to deal with flat feet? Do you have any advice for finding shoes? And did you know that flat feet is no longer an adequate excuse to avoid the draft? The claim is that they will provide specialty shoes so it isn’t a good excuse.
HA!
Having grown up in a military family, my experience says the chance of them actually providing said shoes is low.
Anyway, I digress. What do you think? Inquiring minds want to know!
