As BestCommentor^[1] so kindly pointed out after my last post, I have a long, complicated history with shoes^[2]. I gave you two conflicting requirements in the last missive, but BC is right the requirements capture process was much more complicated and requirements have evolved over time.

I am not the only one who thinks about shoes. Apparently, Terry Pratchett did as well^[3]. Shoes have a function to keep our feet safe and our bodies healthy, but the societal implications of shoes are sometimes in direct conflict of their main purpose^[4]. And now, after 50 some odd years, I find myself left with the two Most Import Requirements in my world:

1. Comfort
2. Looks

I suppose they all come down to those two, although it was rightly pointed out it took a long time to do a reduction to those two.

A List of All the Ways Shoes Can Fail You

1. They don’t keep your feet dry^[5].
2. They don’t protect you from something landing on your feet.
3. They don’t support your arches^[6].
4. They don’t protect the bottom of your feet from getting cuts.
5. The shoes attack your feet^[7].

Situational Functional Requirements

When we consider the requirement of shoes to keep our feet safe and our bodies healthy, we need to unpack that a little bit. Not all situations require the same requirements. Sometimes, as part of my job^[8], we go on or through a manufacturing floor. When we do this, the situational functional requirements are at cross purposes. On the one hand, I am still supposed to be in business dress. On the other hand, I need closed toed shoes^[9]. On more than one occasion I have worn dress shoes that cover my toes in some way.^[10]

The frustrating part about making that compromise is that I KNOW that my dress shoes are not meeting the intent of the requirement. On a manufacturing floor, you need protection from some things that could happen in what is not a safe environment. In truth, I ignore this and move on.

So, and yes this is my own fault, I have found myself in situations where I know the shoes I needed to have, and I didn’t have those shoes with me. I probably had something close at home. In these situations, I tell myself I can buy what I need if I REALLY need it^[11], but I almost never do. Why? Inherently, I am cheap^[12].

But there are other situations where there are different requirements. For example, if I am going to be walking a long way, I need to consider blisters. I have had some horrible blisters on my feet over the past 5 decades^[13]. At the same time, I love to walk^[14]. 

A Word on Socks

I don’t know if socks have gotten better over the years, if sock producers have returned to a more traditional method of making socks, or if I have become resigned to buying socks that are a bit pricy. The end result is I now wear socks. I didn’t used to. For pretty much half my life I avoided socks^[15]. This made my feet quite smelly^[16].

In the past few years, I have been successful in finding socks I like, but they are few and far between^[17]. I tend to buy a lot of a style I like and helps me avoid blisters without looking too crazy with my outfit.

What this LfZ Has Taught Me

When I saw BC’s comment on my last letter, I laughed really hard and wanted to explain the story of Toulouse and Iceland and a missed connection and walking through France in socks and ending up with only sandals to get home while in Reykjavik in a snowstorm but going walking at 4am through the streets of the capital of Iceland anyway. Instead, as I wrote it, I discovered that my problems with shoes are a metaphor for my challenges balancing external expectations with internal desires.

But that’s another letter.

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^[1] Now known as BC. That ok JC?

^[2] Or perhaps I should say, I have a long history of complaining about shoes in a complicated way and BC was there for more than one of those events.

^[3] https://moneywise.com/managing-money/budgeting/boots-theory-of-socioeconomic-unfairness shows up in my google news feed from time to time.

^[4] The socioeconomic implications in the article speak for themselves.

^[5] My sweaty feet do not help with that.

^[6] I have very high arches.

^[7] I am sure there are more.

^[8] Which requires business office type clothes a lot of the time.

^[9] I hate almost all pairs of closed toed shoes. My feet sweat. A lot.

^[10] And I hated those shoes.

^[11] I once went on a 72-hour road trip with one change of clothes saying I would buy something while we were in Chicago. That did not happen.

^[12] To be honest, I tend to pack too much when traveling anyway.

^[13] I once got a blister on the arch of my foot because I was wearing something to protect my arch. And it didn’t work.

^[14] Walking causes blisters depending on the walk, the shoes, and the feet.

^[15] But I would give in to the requirement to wear panty hose…

^[16] Again with the sweaty feet.

^[17] It is not always the most expensive socks that make the most comfortable socks. I guess that is true for shoes too.