The Case for a Shoe Connection

It is about time that I admit it.  Really, I have to stop denying it and come clean.

Yes, my brown casual shoes are pretty much dead.

They were bought as a pair of disposable shoes before a trip to Europe about 3 years ago, and I never expected them to last the trip.  The fact they survived (barely) an ill-advised trek up amongst the steep snow-strewn pathways of an "easy-to-intermediate" Swiss mountain was nothing short of a miracle - and the looks some of the Swiss gave me on my trip, on espying my shoes, indicated that they also thought my survival was something I should be thanking the deities for.

However, after that trip, I took a (metaphoric) shine to these shoes.  Sure, the laces were long and prone to unknotting at the most impractical of times; they were not terribly waterproof (though, being fairly thin, they dried out incredibly easily); and the grip they provided was tenuous at best - but still.

And so, they came with me on trips to South East Asia, and around New Zealand.  And they survived, though some of the threads started to fray and, by the start of this year, the soles of the shoes had started to fall away, turning them kind of into reverse jandals, and in the most dangerous way.

Thus, the shoes entered semi retirement this year, and now, with the purchase of a replacement pair, they may finally be retired to the big shoe store in the sky, with all the other shoe-y soles (argh!  Bad pun; but I had to).

And so, before they are laid to rest, an ode:

An ode to my shoes (RIP)

Oh, shoes
I shall miss youse
No more shall we walk together
With your tan laces and fake brown leather
Our paths diverge, yours and mine
As I abandon shoes that have lost their shine
Rest thee well, my faithful loafer
Now that, for me, your job is over.


Verdict: Goodbye, good and faithful shoes.  You will be missed.  8 laces out of 10.