Shoelaces...

A fantastic thing happened today which hasn’t happened in a quite a while...my shoelaces became untied, an occurrence which used to happen regularly.

Before I left for London last year I bought a pair of low cut hiking shoes. Meant to hold the dualistic purpose of ‘style’ and practicality, I wore those puppies down to their sole and hushed them into my closet.

There’s a great 45 degree slice on the heel.

Comfy, sure. Stylish, maybe. Worn out, definitely.

So I bought a new pair. Stark white, fresh heeled, walking shoes.

My previous pair of shoes came untied once in a while (apparently I can’t tie a knot...prolly why I had Velcro shoes for eleven...cough...seven years of my life). Yet, the tiny grayish dark yellow laces did not sprawl like the long lanky stark white laces which found the cool floor of freedom, spreading out in any direction they chose.

Previous white “tennies” (as my grandmother would say) had the same occurrence. So I have years of responses, varied by personality type, the most common being:

“Your shoe’s untied.”

To which, I’d reply:

“I know.”

And went about my day. Some folks, of course, provided an instant follow up:

“Aren’t you gonna tie them?”

To which, I’d reply:

“No, it’s cool, the laces like it this way.”

Some, would offer helpful advice:

“Aren’t you worried about tripping?”

Or a dire warning:

“Dude, you’re gonna trip!”

To which, I’d reply:

“Thanks for your thoughts, I’m gonna buy a coke!”

For those who care enough, I really do appreciate it, especially Janet, who for three and half years prolly told me almost every day...and better than the time she told me to stop wearing sandals with socks. Really, if I didn’t retie them...please do not take it personally...I figure if they want to be free, why not let them go?

Sadly, there are a few...very, very, very few....who find concern in that logic and, without warning, these people raise their size 6, 9, 12, etc. and...

step on my laces as I’m walking...

Aside from the extremely mild annoyance of having to either tape the frayed ends, or buy a new pair, this provides the most confusion:

How can untied, free-flowing laces bother you so much you feel the need to step on them, causing harm, either by tripping the walker, or ripping their laces?

pb