a stitch in time... saves walking down the street barefoot

Walking barefoot in a public street is dangerous and lacking in decorum. Of course, context is everything. If it's a seaside resort - by all means, walk barefoot wherever you like. That's what the beach and summer and holidays are for. But if you are down town, cover your feet, wear your shoes, protect your toes and act responsibly. Please.

Ha.

I wonder if life the universe and everything have conspired to disprove as many of my silly rules as possible before I die? Or if I'm just doing it to myself? Today was a case in point!

One of my favourite pairs of summer slides came from Manila, Philippines. They cost me something like $18, which was outrageously extravagant by Philippino standards, but pretty cheap according to the Aussie measure of things. The $2 thongs (flip-flops) I also bought were even better value! I wear my favourite slides a lot, so much so that last year the sole separated from the shoe and had to be repaired .

I noticed the sole starting to separate from the shoe again recently, but since they're my favourite and I love them and couldn't find time to take them to the shoe repair man, I just kept wearing them. What could really happen anyway?

Not so smart am I... the whole damn sole was slowly working its way off the shoe until today, just as I was crossing the road it started flapping wildly with each step. Right there, in front of all the traffic I immediately converted from walking to a strange hop-step in an effort to keep what was left of the sole on the shoe. I tried gripping the shoe with my toes to hold the sole in place better. I almost slid my foot across the ground without lifting it in the hope of preventing a disastrous face plant of tripping over the whole thing.

There's only so many such steps you can take before you feel like a total goon and realise everyone must surely be looking at you with some degree of mirth. So as soon as I could, I removed the shoes and headed for the nearest shoe repair man - as it turned out, only ten shops down the street, which I practically ran past in an effort to prevent the soles of my feet melting to the sizzling pavement. Interestingly, all previous opinion of barefoot walking aside, no one cast a glance in my barefoot direction. At least no more than had puzzled over my strange gait at the pedestrian crossing! (And thus my shoe opinions are totally scuppered!)

The repair man glued my slides back together in a jiffy, and even undertook some preventative measures on the other shoe before I set off home, happy once more with my beautiful shoes.

And next time they fall apart? I'll take them to get glued at the first sign of separation! A stitch in time...