It’s strangely easy to choose what you know is bad for you.
Walking up miles worth of hills and climbing flight after flight of stairs with nothing but the pleather equivalent of cardboard and string clinging to your feet. With every step, the sandals applaud as they smack the bottom of your foot and recoil back to the earth. Don’t mind the soil, puddles, and rocks, as you make the long journey to your next class; it’s nothing that a flip-flop can’t fight. Surely, there is no shortage of improper footwear usage on Grounds.
When I arrived at UVA, I was bewildered by the number of people constantly wearing, objectively, the least equipped shoes to handle traveling around Grounds. From simply walking to the dining hall to full days of classes and partying late, it’s almost conclusive that Hoos love wearing the least supportive shoe known to man for hours on end, especially when it involves heavy foot travel.
Additionally, this style of flat shoe typically has an inferior outsole, which can increase the risk of it deciding to exercise its free will and chase its lifelong dream of being an airplane and flying straight off your foot while you’re just trying to get to class. Or maybe it’ll struggle to grip the metal grate on the pavement, and you’ll eat asphalt right on Stadium Road; unfortunately, a true story.
This then begs the question:
Why Do We Choose The Worst Shoe?
I could try to look for the answer in the sky, but before I gaze up, the truth, like an anvil, would land straight on my head. If this were a murder mystery, the killer would be convenience.
It’s really that simple.
It is kind of insane. Somehow, despite all of the negative traits and havoc this specific style of shoe can wreak on your life, because they are easy to slip on on the go and don’t require any laundry math or sock subtraction to wear when you need to head out for your eight am class, these risks are overlooked.
Answer this for me:
Would you rather take a gentle slide into a locked prison cell or climb a stepladder to freedom?
I ask this because putting on those convenient sandals or flip-flops in the morning basically locks you into them until you can get back to your dorm or apartment. It’s so easy to slide those flat-soled shoes on instead of taking the two minutes to armor your feet with socks and ankle- and arch-supporting shoes that were actually designed for long-distance walking. If you wear the flat slip-ons because you’d be late to class or an event, and if you took the time to lace up your shoes, you need to get ready earlier.
Where To Go From Here?
Start by looking down at the shoes you may or may not be wearing; then, envision all of the shoes you own, whether they fill a closet so large it rivals Barbie’s or simply sit in their designated space next to your front door. While doing this, I implore you to consider whether you are making footwear decisions based on convenience or for your health and safety. As the days get darker earlier and the air begins to have a cold bite, it’s likely that the sandals and flip-flops will soon be retired until the spring, in exchange for weather-appropriate, closed-toed, and better-supporting shoes. When creating new daily habits this coming winter, it’s important to remember why you’re choosing what you do, and that just because it’s the quickest solution doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best solution.
Happy stepping!