A Boy and His Shoes

So these are my new Puma Romas. Romas are, in my opinion, the best running shoes ever. I bought my first pair some years back, chiefly because they were blue suede. This pair I bought today, because I have been oggling them for several weeks now and I finally just figured what the hell. They were sixty bucks, which really isn't all that bad. It wasn't too long ago running shoes were going for over a hundred bucks a deuce.

In a way they replace the Nikes I bought back last Fall, which I really only bought because they are waffle-soled, and I have been nostalgic for the old Sunset trainers I ran in as a kid, until they were completely worn out. On the up side, the Nikes were only 40 bucks; on the downside, they are bright red. The Wifey calls them my Ruby Slippers, and I had to stop wearing them on weekdays last spring and most of the summer because one of my co-workers was honestly freaked out that I was wearing, in her words, "clown shoes." Besides which, they do stand out, so they aren't doing my Ninja tactical training any favors.

So this brings the number of my shoe collection to five, which isn't really all that much. And they all have their place. The new ones, of course, are my dress sneakers, for going out to dinner and whatnot; the old Romas are my heavy walking or after hiking shoes. Then there are my Addidas Samoas, which are good rain shoes, and as often as not serve as my driving shoes, and the Nikes, which are good for rough-terain and also for hot weather, since they breathe like nobody's business (they are not, consequently, good cold weather shoes), and then there are my Diadora running shoes, which I got because they are white with red stripes and they were on sale for 20 bucks, which are all but completely useless, probably because they are Italian. To paraphrase Ford Prefect, never underestimate the importance of good footgear.