No, I'm not into feet.
Feb. 16th, 2007 12:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penfieldBefore I left for my grandfather's funeral in Rochester, NY, I discovered that my reliable standby pair of black dress shoes were no longer viable. The combination of rock salt, asphalt and three years of stress had caused enough wear that the undersole looked like Edward James Olmos's face.
This forced me to go to my backup black dress shoes, my loafers, which are reasonably comfortable and easy to pack but offered little in the way of protection from cold and snow. So I spent a full day searching for those rubber things that you wear over your shoes for greater "protection."
Two problems immediately arose: first, and most surprising, is that they were impossible to find. I looked in Wal-Mart, Kohl's, CVS, Target and Wegmans. In the rare event that I found a rubber-shoe-thing section, the only remaining sizes were small and medium -- and judging by the size of the "medium," it must have been referring to a medium-sized capuchin monkey.
Second, and most embarassing, is that whenever I asked a salesperson for help locating these items, I had to fumble around with the terminology. First I asked where I could find "rubbers," which is the old-fashioned name for them, but this was met with predictable confusion. "Shoe rubbers" is more specific but somehow doesn't sound any less dirty. The common brand name "Totes" is now better known for umbrellas and simply doesn't have the household name-level market share. I ended up going with "Rubber shoe thingies, you know," accompanied by a weary pantomime of a person pulling shoes over his shoes.
All that, and still no luck. It would have been easier buying new dress shoes.
This forced me to go to my backup black dress shoes, my loafers, which are reasonably comfortable and easy to pack but offered little in the way of protection from cold and snow. So I spent a full day searching for those rubber things that you wear over your shoes for greater "protection."
Two problems immediately arose: first, and most surprising, is that they were impossible to find. I looked in Wal-Mart, Kohl's, CVS, Target and Wegmans. In the rare event that I found a rubber-shoe-thing section, the only remaining sizes were small and medium -- and judging by the size of the "medium," it must have been referring to a medium-sized capuchin monkey.
Second, and most embarassing, is that whenever I asked a salesperson for help locating these items, I had to fumble around with the terminology. First I asked where I could find "rubbers," which is the old-fashioned name for them, but this was met with predictable confusion. "Shoe rubbers" is more specific but somehow doesn't sound any less dirty. The common brand name "Totes" is now better known for umbrellas and simply doesn't have the household name-level market share. I ended up going with "Rubber shoe thingies, you know," accompanied by a weary pantomime of a person pulling shoes over his shoes.
All that, and still no luck. It would have been easier buying new dress shoes.
