Footloose and Fancy Free

Dear George,

I was having some trouble with sore feet a few years back, and the podiatrist asked me what I thought was the cause of my problem.  I said maybe it came from buying my sneakers at the Goodwill.  He gave me a funny look and said, “You’re kidding.”  I reassured him that I wasn’t, and he advised me to throw my Goodwill sneakers away.  It was painful but I followed his advice.  My feet felt much better in a few days, and since then I’ve bought my sneakers brand new at Dick’s.  The thrift shop is still good for other stuff though.  For example, I’ve been looking for secondhand galoshes all winter long.  I haven’t had any luck yet, and sometimes I’ve wondered if people even wear galoshes any more.  So you can imagine my elation when I ran across a pair of Eddie Bauer leather hiking boots at the Dayton Goodwill a few weekends ago.  They were my size, and, while the leather showed signs of winter wear, the rubber soles seemed to be in perfect shape.  Goodwill sells their shoes for 99 cents a pound, so I walked away with practically new winter weather boots for a little over $2.  When I got home I checked on the Internet, and Eddie Bauer’s price for this model was $125.  Incredible – maybe the best buy of all times.  My first chance to try them out occurred with our recent snowstorm.  The boots offered much more solid footing on the ice than my sneakers and seemed warm enough.  I did have one problem in that I experienced mildly painful electric jolts in the ball of my left foot every three or four steps.  I thought to myself, perhaps this is why these high quality boots wound up in the thrift shop.  I put in a Dr. Scholl’s padded insole and that helped a little.  Then I discovered that if I bend my toes upward just before my left foot hits the ground, the pain is mostly eliminated.  So I’ve started doing that.  One drawback is that I have to devote constant attention to moving my toes up and down, which is a little distracting.  And I do sort of walk with a limp.  Right now I do plan to wear my new boots until spring (unless I happen to find some galoshes).  The way I look at it is that I have one new Eddie Bauer boot worth almost $62.50 and another worth nothing, and I got both of them for only two dollars.  It’s only half the bargain I thought it was at first, but that’s still very good.   

Love,

Dave

Gmail Comments:

-Ami G (2-21):  Katja!  Time for an intervention!