Comments

1. chigau (違う) says

   September 2, 2016 at 12:45 am

   The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

   Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

   But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

   This was the Captain Samuel Vimes ‘Boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness.

   If your new masters don’t have a dress-code, go for hiking boots.
   Arch support, ankle support and cushy insoles.

2. Great American Satan says

   September 2, 2016 at 3:03 am

   Interesting thought. I imagine they’d feel heavy on my feet, slow me down, make me trip from having too much traction. It’s been years since I’ve worn a proper boot, might not be remembering it right. Word tho, I am incredibly weak for a six foot tall person.

3. silverfeather says

   September 20, 2016 at 7:49 pm

   Very late to the party on this, but I also work a retail job that is foot crushing, and developed plantar fasciitis as a result. Some things I have learned:
   —
   1. Try to never walk barefooted. This sucks for me because I used to love it, but it just hurts my feet more. Instead, I invested in a pair of Orthoheel slippers and wear them when I’m home. They ease the pain immediately, and putting them on has become my favorite part of getting home from work.
   —
   2. Roll your foot, especially the arch, over a frozen (16oz) water bottle. I know, weird, but if you have plantar fasciitis or something similar, it stems from inflammation of tendons so heat is bad and the icy cold actually helps a lot. For me, doing this diligently at night can mean the difference between a lot of pain the next morning or mostly feeling okay.
   —
   3. Shoes. I had trouble with this one. They need to have excellent arch support and I had a lot of trouble finding something that I could wear for a 10 hour shift that wouldn’t leave my feet screaming. Orthoheel makes shoes as well as slippers, but they didn’t work out as well for me due to the contours of their arch support not matching the contours of my feet. I ended up with hiking boots, but I actually found a local shoe store that offered custom orthodic insoles and dropped the $200 it cost to have some made for me. I know that not everyone can afford to do this, but it was the one thing that worked for me after unsuccessfully buying like 3 other pairs of shoes in desperation.
   —
   Good luck with this, it’s not fun. At least I managed to find the Holy Grail of retail jobs: a place that treats its employees and customers with fairness and respect. First one of those I’ve ever worked at and I have to say it’s nice.

4. Great American Satan says

   September 20, 2016 at 10:25 pm

   I’m always barefoot the moment I get home, usually off my feet for a few hours after a shift if I can be. I’m at one of the worst retailers that anyone can name, as they aptly reminded me when I called in sick today to recover from some brutal dentistry. If I’m off sick two more times within the next five months, I’m fired, apparently.

   So maybe this won’t be a problem for much longer, eh? But if I am stuck there, your advice is appreciated.