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So Denise took me shoe shopping yesterday -- should I get to go to London over the holidays for the Students Abroad class, I need a decent pair of walking shoes, as all the shoes I currently own make my feet uncomfortable after wearing them for a time. I notice it especially in the left foot.
It seems there's a reason for that.
We hit the local Running Spot, and looked at some New Balance shoes. I told the guy who came over that I was looking for a good pair of walking shoes; I also mentioned that I have gout in my left foot and so that one often feels really tight in my usual shoes. The salesperson measured my right foot. "10&1/2 regular," he said.
I shook my head. "You sure? I usually wear 11s," I told him. "Some of them are 11&1/2," Denise interjected.
"Let's try the left foot," he said. He measured that one. "Huh!" I heard him exclaim. He glanced up at us. "Did I say 10&1/2 before" he asked. We nodded. "This one's 11& 3/4, wide." He measured the right one again, just to be certain. Yep, 10 1/2, maybe a shade over, normal width. Measured the left again: 11&3/4, wide. He shrugged. "That happens. It's pretty common to have a half-size difference, but it's usually not this much..."
My shoes at home are 11s or 11&1/2s. I'm not in the Imelda league -- I have maybe 3 pairs of shoes that I can wear, most of them fairly old; if I find a pair that I like, I'll wear them every day until Denise begins to give me that look when I start to put them on. I tried to remember if, in the distant past during my last visit to a shoe store, the person had measured both feet or only one. I could remember several years ago going to a Macy's when they had a sale and measuring my foot myself (one foot only, and yes, I think it was the right one) and deciding an 11 would fit. And when I got a pair of Dansko clogs a year and a half ago, I can't remember whether the guy measured both feet or not. Those are European 45s, which equate to a US 11 - 11&1/2.
I tried on a pair of 12 wide (according to the label on the tongue, this corresponds to a European 46.5). Ahh.... my toes actually had room...
I wore them all afternoon. My feet felt as good as they've felt in shoes in ages. Gout, I suspect, has widened the left foot, but it wouldn't have made it longer.... I wonder if I haven't all along been trying to cram one foot into a too-small shoe.
It seems there's a reason for that.
We hit the local Running Spot, and looked at some New Balance shoes. I told the guy who came over that I was looking for a good pair of walking shoes; I also mentioned that I have gout in my left foot and so that one often feels really tight in my usual shoes. The salesperson measured my right foot. "10&1/2 regular," he said.
I shook my head. "You sure? I usually wear 11s," I told him. "Some of them are 11&1/2," Denise interjected.
"Let's try the left foot," he said. He measured that one. "Huh!" I heard him exclaim. He glanced up at us. "Did I say 10&1/2 before" he asked. We nodded. "This one's 11& 3/4, wide." He measured the right one again, just to be certain. Yep, 10 1/2, maybe a shade over, normal width. Measured the left again: 11&3/4, wide. He shrugged. "That happens. It's pretty common to have a half-size difference, but it's usually not this much..."
My shoes at home are 11s or 11&1/2s. I'm not in the Imelda league -- I have maybe 3 pairs of shoes that I can wear, most of them fairly old; if I find a pair that I like, I'll wear them every day until Denise begins to give me that look when I start to put them on. I tried to remember if, in the distant past during my last visit to a shoe store, the person had measured both feet or only one. I could remember several years ago going to a Macy's when they had a sale and measuring my foot myself (one foot only, and yes, I think it was the right one) and deciding an 11 would fit. And when I got a pair of Dansko clogs a year and a half ago, I can't remember whether the guy measured both feet or not. Those are European 45s, which equate to a US 11 - 11&1/2.
I tried on a pair of 12 wide (according to the label on the tongue, this corresponds to a European 46.5). Ahh.... my toes actually had room...
I wore them all afternoon. My feet felt as good as they've felt in shoes in ages. Gout, I suspect, has widened the left foot, but it wouldn't have made it longer.... I wonder if I haven't all along been trying to cram one foot into a too-small shoe.