Shoes and Feet: It’s Just Not Fair

Why is it that women have to suffer with uncomfortable, painful shoes and men do not? It’s not fair!

In my present status as an old lady (hey: that’s the good news!) my feet hurt in shoes. Almost any shoes at all except those that are so well worn that they’re embarrassing and a more than a bit disgraceful.

Let’s say I’m invited to a wedding (a la vie!). Picking out a new dress is fun fun fun. I’m not a perfect size 8 (for sure!) but I can find something that I like and that likes me back. So from top to almost bottom I’m set. And then comes the torture: the shoes. I’ve been to weddings where all I can remember is how badly my feet hurt. The bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome and my feet hurt. Not fair. My husband doesn’t have these kinds of problems. Most men don’t.

A few months ago I went to a podiatrist. I wanted him to prescribe custom made shoes. I was willing to pay the extremely high price just to relieve some of the pain. He turned me down predicting that the custom made shoes wouldn’t solve my problems. Instead he suggested going to a specialty shoe store in New York with a Park Avenue address. Meaning very pricey!

I went, with my loyal husband at my side, and tried on about twenty pairs of shoes. Nope. They all killed on the spot. No need to tell me that they’d get worse, not better. So they suggested custom made. It would only cost $5,000. No typo. Five thousand US dollars. No thanks!

We had planned a trip to Hong Kong and I got the brilliant idea that if they could make men’s suits on the cheap maybe they could also custom make women’s shoes. Aha! Thanks to the trusty old friend called Google I found myself an established custom shoe maker in the center of the city. Appointment made……and kept. Shoes cost $300. and would be shipped in less than a month to New Jersey. Good deal.

I awaited those shoes like some women await a marriage proposal. They finally came. They were totally unwearably painfully uncomfortable. Another dream and bubble burst.

Nowhere to turn. The first thing I do when I enter a home, anyone’s home, is remove my shoes. AAAAAHHHHH.

So what’s my theory? I think all the spike heels that I subjected myself to when I was young destroyed my feet. Those spikes always hurt so badly that I can’t understand why was I so attached to them. Well, that’s what women who are young and attractive wear on their feet. Unlike men who can wear just about anything and nobody notices, women are forced into shoes that kill (sometimes almost literally like when you fall flat on your face because your ever-so-skinny spike heel gets caught in something on the sidewalk, like a sewer grate), hurt, maim and are also stylish, chic, and way too expensive. Then, if you live long enough you regret the torture and just seek the ever elusive comfort.

Ladies and girls, take the advice of a senior citizen: be comfortable today and maybe you’ll still be comfortable tomorrow.