I’m contemplating buying a new pair of walking/running shoes…is there a big difference between REALLY expensive New Balance shoes and REALLY cheap Target-brand running shoes?  ‘Cuz I’m staring at a pair of both on my floor and I can’t really tell the difference.  Even when I walk around in them.  Maybe if I ran, I would need the extra arch support to protect my knees, ankles and feet from the PSI my oversized body would inflict on my poor joints…but surely walking doesn’t have the same affect? Does it?

 

Remember the day when you could go to a store and a sales person measured your foot and sat on a little bench in front of you and pushed on the end of the shoe to see where your toe ended and used a shoe horn to help your heel slide in the back and asked you to walk around?  Do those exist?  Even in large department stores?  I haven’t purchased a pair of shoes from a department store, well, since I had children.   Currently, all my shoes come out of pre-stacked boxes, on very large racks, where thousands of other women have already slipped them on their bare, unwashed, feet. Ick…cooties.

 

Have you noticed that the “discount store that won’t be named” (per Tracy M) has stopped using shoe boxes altogether – they nearly all come on little plastic hooks that hang on the wall.  I suppose that is more earth friendly, but there are so many uses for shoe boxes (at least at our house).  Not that I would buy shoes at THAT discount store.

 

Do you “hand me down” shoes from child to child?  My mother said shoes are like toothbrushes and should only be worn by one person.  I say if the shoe fits, wear it.