Shoehorns and Uncomfortable Shoes

I was reminded of shoehorns the other day.  Do you remember those?  Actually, what I mean is, "do you have a shoehorn?"  Do you have more than one?  Do you have the fancy, long-handled one that you can use while standing up so you're not incommoded by having to sit down and lean over while you put on your shoes?

I don't have a shoehorn.  I'm sure some of you do have shoehorns though.  I haven't thought about them in a long time.  I remember needing them for shoes when I was little; I would get new shoes and the person at the shoe store would help me into the tight, uncomfortable shoes with a shoehorn because that's what it took sometimes to get those new shoes on.

And talking about uncomfortable, remember that protracted "breaking in" phase for any new pair of shoes?  You would suffer through the first few weeks because it took a while for the leather or rubber or plastic or shoe stuff to work in to the shape of your feet.

I haven't thought about uncomfortable shoes in years.  Today, if I buy uncomfortable shoes, it's because I didn't make a wise decision at the shoe store.  My children get new shoes regularly and they don't know anything other than comfortable feet because the leathers are soft and supple and the rubber material gives in just the right way the very first time you put them on.

Do they still make uncomfortable, hard to break in shoes any more?  Do they do so just to keep the shoehorn people in business?

The Big Boy Update: "I want to go in the car and find Nana and Papa"  He said this a while back, shortly after Nana and Papa had left from a visit.  It appears he wasn't ready for them to leave.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter brought me the remote control for the television yesterday.  I took it and asked her what she wanted.  She looked at me, looked at the television and then said, "Mouse."  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is the only show we record and their one television treat when we need a break.  I couldn't refuse such a cute request though; she got the Mouse.

Fitness Update:  I went to the gym today and coughed through the whole workout.  This productive cough that's given me a spiking fever more than once now needed to be checked.  The doctor this afternoon put me on an antibiotic and said I have either "an upper respiratory infection" if you don't want to startle people, because that's exactly what it is.  Or, more specifically, I've got "walking pneumonia" which is best checked with a test but won't make a darned bit of difference in how it's treated, so why bother.  She said the reason it wasn't bothering me that much might be because I'm in good cardiovascular shape.  Did she know she just made my day by saying that?  She said in three days I'll feel much better.  I'm looking forward to that.

Someone Once Said:  Expertise in one field does not carry over into other fields. But experts often think so. The narrower their field of knowledge the more likely they are to think so.