Shoe Me - 2
by AN

Then, Randy says, let us not forget the men. But he would like to share a quote from Bismarck, he thinks, “Vanity is a mortgage that must be deducted from the value of a man.” Shiny black brogues, soft loafers or handmade Italian leather shoes belong to the power pack up on Wall Street, in impeccable casual dress downs or dress ups by Hugo Boss, Armani or Gucci they travel first class, have no life other than work to make their first million or they play golf in fancy clothes, they schmooze on the green drive and like to think that they are great in bed. And they all ape one another, talk, act and dress like each other. Of course, there are the two kinds of men, the kind who likes men and the kind who likes women. The kind who likes men, dress way better, sometimes reflect the Rainbow District but for the most part have impeccable off the fashion runway footwear. They wear high heels too. Most big brands make shoes specially for this gorgeously brave hearted and fun-loving section of NYC's cosmopolitan community. Can we say cosmopolitan, asks Randy, without speaking of the fab four?

Flip flops, the trickiest footwear to figure out. It could be a wealthy teenager heading back from her weekly Mani Pedi, they could also belong to the recently unemployed man making a run to the local supermarket to buy groceries for the house while his wife is working somewhere in the city. It could also be a college student who is walking the streets looking for a coffee shop to get rid of his horrible hangover from the crazy party he was at the night previous. Randy's pet peeve are the Crocs, the ugliest foot wear ever made, large unflattering shoes in colours to die by. A fav of travellers and unstylish who just roam the city aimlessly. Nobody knows where they live or what they do. You just spot these specimens on the corner of a street smoking a cigarette or sitting on the footpath looking at a map and answer to tourist.

Randy agrees that sports shoes have a good enough reason to exist; either belong to the jocks who are celebrating after a victory or are going to a bar to drown their sorrows. These boys are the most coveted lot amongst the girls. They have gelled hair and big cheesy grins. They usually have a cheerleader as their girlfriend. They go to college because of their sports scholarships and no one knows what happens to them after they are done with college. Theses shoes could also belong to the fitness freaks who run for miles and sweat profusely. These people follow very strict diets and do not touch greasy food. They are uptight people with almost no sense of humour whatsoever. They have no social life or they meet friends on their daily jogs around the city. They aren’t a lot of fun to be around, they are the party poopers on many occasions.

Finally, Randy's nightmare as he calls them. The rubber boots! "They are disgusting and always enter my neighbourhood and create a ruckus. They hate us rodents and always chase and torture us. When we smell the rubber, we evacuate the area and hide in little holes in the walls of the sewer. These men are always munching on greasy food and don’t have a distinct odour like the rest. They have a very foul mouth and are always cursing about something or the other. They laugh about stupid things and don’t have a lot of work to do. They just drill and hammer the walls making it so uncomfortable to live in the sewers."

So, you see shoes can say a lot about their owners. They have a story to tell when you look at the finer details. Randy has his own categories that he puts people into. These are his opinions and he sticks by them.