Comments on: Shoe shopping and the denial of death

By: Alan F

Alan F — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 13:55:55 +0000

Yes, yes, and yes. I have a similar affliction. I admittedly did not read through your entire piece but I got the gist. Surprisingly many of our actions I am sure are tied to the fear of death. I am into comfortable shoes, well made shoes, and those that will attract other people’s attention or admiration. So these are clearly things I am trying to get from the outside world that somehow my internal emotional makeup is not providing for me.

By: hui tong

hui tong — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:19:42 +0000

do men and women differ? i have four pairs of shoes: leather, sports, slippers and army boots… i guess these are the four ever necessary in my life…

but then again, i spend on other things… for example, every year my wife frowns on me when i tell her i’ll be travelling to kuala lumpur (malaysia, singapore’s neighbor) to watch f1 racing… it’s always “why do you have to go?” but, to me, f1 is something that makes me feel ‘alive’, to get away from everyday robotic work, and importantly, feel 20 years younger by mingling with the usually glamorous crowd… it’s something i like, so i do it while i can (life and death?)…

By: Hugh

Hugh — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:56:29 +0000

My thoughts:

1) Clearly this is why the Muslims throw their shoes at those they wish to disrespect. They are symbolically hurling their mortal souls at the objects of their disdain.

2) Is a larger size correlated in any way with your degree of immortality? (A new twist on “Does size matter?”)

3) Will our future equivalent of the Sphinx and Colosseum be an enormous statue of Dr. Scholes straddling the Hudson?

4) Do bowling shoes count?

By: Alexis

Alexis — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:35:57 +0000

I have about thirty, but I wear the same pair of Merrells every day!

By: Alyssa Goldberg

Alyssa Goldberg — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:20:42 +0000

I have over 60, but I don’t think more than four or five ever see the light of day, or even the light of my apartment for that matter–they are so far back in my closet. Shoes are how we connect to the earth. Our ultimate connection with the earth will be when we are buried in or scattered upon it. Symbolically and practically, we’d like to keep as much distance as possible between ourselves and that reality (hello stillettos!).

Also, I believe that the Genesis story of the fall has less to do with Adam and Eve recognizing their physical nakedness than their mortal vulnerability. God didn’t want that because who would want to worship the kind of effed up diety who would create something with an awareness of its own annihilation. That’s just mean.