I have talked a few times about my infernally expensive running shoes, that I DO replace every 1200 - 1500 miles, faithfully, even though "experts" suggest getting a new pair every 500 miles for long distance runners.
But, I do not think I have spoken about my work shoes. I have two pair of very specific shoes that I lecture and do all my U work in and have done so for perhaps 30 years now. These shoes are classic Rockport Men's shoes that style-wise have served the test of time.
I always have one pair in black and one pair in brown, so I can wear whichever best fits my "professorial garb" for the day. I try to have two brown favoring days and two black favoring days each week, and Friday is more variable as the extra workday. The brown variant is shown in the above image. The black is identical.... except black in color.
Unfortunately, with most shoes, I tend to wear them out from the INSIDE and not the outside. My current pairs are perhaps 7-8 years old and they are shot-to-hell inside. It may be my persperation that does them in, I am not sure. But... I have reached the point where I am planning to gravitate to my new brown pair and my new black pair (that I bought perhaps three years ago now in anticipation). My feet are tired and sore most days because of really no internal cushioning remaining in my current pairs. It bugs me, though, that they look perfectly FINE from external appearances.
I had planned on getting rid of them back when I bought their replacements, but kept putting it off and putting it off thinking I could still get some additional wear from them. I am NOW relatively firmly committed to begin wearing the replacements this coming Fall at the start of September because the old sets are uncomfortable by the end of a day. I have probably purchased five or more probably six (possibly at most, seven, but six is more likely) sets of these identical shoes over the 30 some odd years. I have always been relieved when I look and they are still available.
I am not quite sure why, but today has been an especially "pipey" day, meaning my daydreaming has been especially pipe focused. I had difficulty concentrating on praying the rosary while I ran (at the damn track again due to the wildfires), because my mind kept drifting back to remembering Sir Walter Raleigh cube-cut pipe tobacco and how good it is. While I am not sure why those thoughts/memories are so strong today, it may be in association with the time of the year and what I am teaching. At the moment, I am lecturing on the various sensory modalities (tactile, gustatory, olfactory, visual and auditory), and in my talking about how the sense of smell is governed neurally, I talk about how there are categories of odorants people use to classify "pure" odors, but that most odors are a mixture of multiple odorants. I would name several of the more common odorant categories and then give examples of how different common odors are compositions of different categories. Traditionally, I had always used as one example, a comparison of the odorant catetories between pipe tobacco in its leaf state versus pipe tobacco experiencing combustion. In many classes, I would toss a pouch of my pipe tobacco towards a student and ask him/her to describe the odorants they noted in the leaf state. I typically gave them a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh or a pouch of Prince Albert as they were relatively "plain" and not adorned with a lot of "extras". I have not always done the "pouch" routine in class, because sometimes I am too rushed with making sure I get through what I need to for the class. Last time I probably used the "pouch" angle in class was about 3 years ago.
Please also be assured that I mean "plain" as in JUST TOBACCO LEAF.... not "plain" as in dull or boring, because neither of those pipe tobaccos would EVER be thought of as dull by me. They both are ROBUST and BEAUTIFUL.
In the few minutes I have time between all the "big voicing" today, I have written this and also tried to organize my thoughts on a new presentation I have to have done very soon for a presentation at another meeting.
PipeTobacco
Professor, if you need to squeeze a little extra time from your current Rockports, have you thought about getting some of those Dr. Scholl's-type inserts to give you fresh cushioning? That's no substitute for a new shoe, but if it can delay the purchase helpfully while helping your feet you might consider it. For that matter, when you get your next pairs of Rockports, you might even want to START OUT with inserts, so that what you wear out from the inside will be the inserts as much as the shoes themselves. Anyway, I too have had great experiences with Rockports over the years, not just as a dressier shoe but also as a walking shoe.
ReplyDeleteOh, and in these days of hyper-sensitive and litigious students, I'm not sure that I would have the nerve to toss a pouch of pipe tobacco towards a student, lest I be accused of some kind of assault... but I'm glad you've been able to do this as a productive part of your teaching routine. Nice!
I am almost positive that I have had a pair of those shoes, but a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteThose are teacher shoes! I think my dad used to wear those. :) Believe it or not, in my early teaching days, I wore high heels. 30 years down the road I was in comfortable cushiony shoes. I had black, brown and navy ones.
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