[Before I start, let it be known that I have not been offered nor have I been compensated for any of the brands mentioned in this little essay. Not to say that offers will be rejected outright.]
With that out of the way, I’ll start by stating that a new pair of shoes came by way of Amazon yesterday. They were my new shoes, purchased for my better half’s birthday. Before you call me an uncaring so and so, I will be quick to point out that on my birthday, we went out and purchased her a new set of shoes. She endorsed my purchase. In fact, she requested that I go and purchase my new pair of shoes.
The better half and I are like that with each other. We don’t purchase shoes very often because we usually make our shoe purchases with an eye to keeping them in the long run. Or in our case, walk.
Both of us do quite a bit of walking. A good pair of shoes are a necessity. She is a nurse. I worked a sales floor, and before that, I was a route supervisor for a daily paper. I now have the dog Filbrix who I take out at least three times a day. Both of us put quite a few miles on our feet every week.
Back when I was a route supervisor (I was called a “District Manager”), I would go down to a small shoe store to purchase a pair of relatively stout walking shoes every four to six months. The proprietor kept nudging me to purchase a pair of Clark’s, claiming that they would outlast the whatever it was I was wearing at the time. Me, being me, rejected his sales pitch. The notion of paying over $100 for a pair of shoes was something I was not about to do.
A move to Texas and a Christmas gift in anticipation of a trip overseas led me right back to the man who had recommended Clark’s, and a purchase which more than proved his point about shoes outlasting what I had been wearing. That first pair lasted 3+ years, including the miles I walked in London and daily use on a concrete sales floor. I still have a pair of Clark’s I wear today – they’re my Sunday Go-To-Meeting shoes.
When the better half needed a new pair of shoes to do her rounds, I took her to a Clark’s store in our corner of the DFW Metromess and purchased a set of Clark’s for her to wear. Again, years of wear instead of having to replace shoes every few months.
I got away from Clark’s for everyday wear and started to purchase Merrills. Good shoe, moderate price, long-lasting. My brother-in-law in Columbus loves ’em. Until a year and a half of purchasing my last pair, I loved them, too. Unfortunately, one of the effects of being a seasoned citizen is that apparently our feet grow, not only in length (from a size 11 to size 13), but in width as well. I developed a painful corn on one of my feet and went looking for something a bit wider.
My son came by and suggested that I try a set of New Balance shoes. They worked, in large part due to the fact that the shoes I purchased were wide, instead of a medium width. A good shoe… for a while. The soles were softer than most and they ended up wearing down within a year. [Nine months, really, but I don’t want to upset the lad too much. They were, after all, purchased on his recommendation.]
Which brings me to the day before yesterday when I went on Amazon to find a pair of decent shoes to buy for my better half’s birthday (as explained above).
Before the Great Lockdown, the better half and I found a SAS factory store in San Antonio (SAS = San Antonio Shoe). Her Clark’s were about due to be replaced and we had heard that SAS shoes were every bit as good as Clark’s, so we gave them a try. Not only is she still wearing the pair purchased in San Antonio, she has another pair which she wears on Sundays.
As I started to say (and to make a long story short) I found a decent pair of SAS shoes to wear at a price which made me think twice. At the same time, if they wear as well as my first set of Clark’s, it will be money well spent. And besides, I don’t have to tie the things.
Time to go take a walk…
Be Seeing You!
bdharrellauthor 