Greg often walks barefoot. He enjoys it. Often, immediately after exiting a building, he will stoop over and remove his sandals, Old Navy flip-flops: 2 for $5.00. These sandals have a thong that slides between the first and second toe. Long ago, though not really so long ago, he would never have worn such a thing. He only wore flip-flops with a broad strap arching over the entire foot. Before that, he would never even consider buying flip-flops. The only sandals he would buy were clunky, leather beasts, encasing his foot in a loose net. However, that was in his distant childhood. Now Greg buys his flip-flops from Old Navy. These flip-flops are very popular. Greg really likes his. Nevertheless, he readily takes them off in favour of dirtying the souls of his feet.
Why does Greg walk barefoot? He is asked this quite often. he could give you many different reasons. He likes the feel of the ground. The world is more interesting when you use all your senses to experience. Greg is very in tune with textures and greatly values touch despite his apparent avoidance of physical contact. It is also a bit of a discipline. Greg has thick callouses on the bottoms of his feet from many steps taken on rough cement. Occasionally he treads over gravel as well. This is a bit more unpleasant, but Greg enjoys overcoming pain, and it is another interesting texture after all. Also, by walking barefoot, he is able to preserve his flip-flops. When bought at 2 for $5.00, one cannot expect the flip=flops to be long lasting. In a time not too far past, when Greg was barefoot less often, he quickly wore out his sandals, not only from much walking, but also from his heavy footstep. The last pair of his that wore out, broke in early fall, long before the weather necessitated the need for shoes, but well past the days when Old Navy was still selling flip-flops. Since only the thong had come loose and was able to be repaired, he kept wearing them, but they were prone to fall apart often. At this time, Greg became much more vigilant about the removal of his shoes outdoors in order to get the longest possible use out of his flip-flops.
Greg has a couple of other reasons for walking bereft of shoes, but they are reasons he is unlikely to share. For one, he likes being asked. He likes being identified by the sandals, not on his feet, but carried instead in his hand. It is a conversation starter. It makes him unique. it gives him the slightest bit of self-affirmation, sort of like when he wears his flip-flops and shorts in cold weather. True, he has a great tolerance for the cold and feels it differently than others, but he is always greatly pleased by stares of those bundled up and warmly shod. Being barefoot is an attention grabbing trait in a similar though not as extreme way.
However, Greg has another more deeply hidden reason for his habit of removing his shoes. There was that girl. She too can often be seen carrying her sandals at her side. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Greg always had a bit of an affinity for being barefoot, but it was never a habit until he met her. It was in observing this friend that he first learned to remove his flip-flops when exiting a building. For a time, it took the sight of her bare feet to prompt him to do the same, but soon Greg did so on his own, perhaps in the hope that she would see him being unique like her. Slight affections come and go, and thus did this one, but Greg still can be seen walking barefoot.
All of these reasons for Greg's barefoot walks are true, but there is still some question which is the real motivation. As a result, Greg can be seen without shoes regularly for reasons unknown, or at the very least, undefined to all; perhaps even to himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment