My case is very simple. I was born with unusual feet. I cannot walk in shoes with heels or pointed toes. I cannot tolerate built-in arches or so-called support inserts. I have arthritis in my knees, my right leg is slightly shorter than my left, and my back calf tendons are longer than normal. My shoes must be flat, inside and out, no heel or rise in back. They must be plenty wide at the top. Women’s dress-up shoes are a no-go zone. I have to wear what is comfortable, healthy, and safe for me to walk in. Custom-made dress shoes, I suppose are available, but I can’t afford them.
I am most comfortable in the old, authentic, negative heel Earth Shoes from the 1970’s, not today’s knock offs that aren’t even flat much less have negative heels. Birkenstock makes an enclosed T-strap for men. I can wear the smallest size. The original Crocs I can wear, again, in men’s smallest size. (Men’s also come in plain, subdued colors, black, brown, dark blue, dark gray.) The closest I can get to a dress-up shoe with flat soles, no heels, lots of toe room, will be the occasional lucky find in the largest size for girls. The minute it jumps up to women’s shoes, it has a heel or wedge, however slight. I cannot walk or stand in them for more than a few steps or a minute.
Please, ladies, do not send me shoes! People used to give me all manner of shoes, gift cards, send ads and websites. I’ve tried them all. I can’t use them.
I long ago stopped trying to force my feet into shoes that hurt and in which I cannot walk safely. Many years ago, I visited a friend’s chapel while traveling. Being rather early for Mass, I decided to go in and pray while my friend made a run to buy school uniforms for her daughters. I was stopped at the door by a man who informed me that my shoes were unacceptable for Mass. (They were plain black Crocs with the band fixed behind my ankles so as not to look so much like clogs.) I was a bit surprised he even noticed as all my other clothing was well within the “Mary-like” standards. In fact, I don’t think there is mention of footwear in them! There was a sign in the church itself which gave a brief dress code for respecting Our Lord. It said no flip-flops. I had on dark gray knee highs and my dress was plenty long enough that nobody would see bare leg at any point. I told him why I wore the Crocs but he told me no. I requested to speak with the priest. He said I should be ashamed to show my feet to a priest! I should leave the premises. So I left and returned to my friend’s house. Upon not finding my car in the lot at church, she called the house. I told her what happened and she decided to just head home. It was a weekday and she was starting on a headache.
It turned out the man had struggled for a long time with mental and emotional problems resulting from his time in Iraq. He stayed with his daughter who heard Mass at that chapel, and he sometimes gave people a hard time over peculiar things, clothing, men whose hair wasn’t regulation,(military), children who cried, having the “wrong” color Rosary, etc. I never did hear Mass at that chapel as it closed over the year before I next visited.
Topic: Clothed (Read 747 times)