Sunday, June 06, 2010

Flip-Flops, Foot Nude and Stupid Quotes

Today's QUOTE:


When in doubt, Dr. Positano offers up some simple but important advice: "The bottom line is wearing flip-flops is no different than wearing three-inch high heels."


Am I the only one who thinks this statement is downright ridiculous?  I sure don't want that doc advising me on anything...  And his quote rated an entire article about flip-flops!  My gosh that reporter must have been scraping the bottom of her garbage can, looking for things to write about. 


I didn't make that quote up!  I snatched that quote from a silly article I read here.   I think it was mainly written to promote high-end designer flip-plops. Nothing wrong with the fancy flip-flops, but there is a limit to the cost I will pay for them. 


I grew up spending my summers barefoot.  School was out, and it was a signal to no more shoes, except on Sundays when we were dragged to church in all our finery.  But each summer, my parents issued us kids, a pair of flip-flops because obviously there were places one, even a child, was not allowed to go barefoot. Or as my French friend put it "go foot-nude". I loved the term "foot-nude" and never once corrected her. I also like flip-plops better than flip-flops. 


I ran down the beach at Hunting Island barefoot, climbed mountains, hiked woods, sans shoes and forded rivers, all barefoot.  Some  summers we drove to Florida to see my Aunt and her family. Some where along the way, my parents would stop at a souvenir store and buy us all flip-flops.  I don't recall ever packing shoes or wearing shoes for the trip, it seems as a child, I hopped in the car barefoot until we stopped to buy the treasured flip-flops. I remember my first pair, a bright yellow sun shiny pair.  I was in awe of these. They also bought me tiny sun glasses which I wore every where. I don't know what happened to our family picture album, but I remember there was a picture of me in it, wearing my little sunglasses and bright yellow flip-plops. OK, so I'm an old fart ad the picture is only black and white, but I remember the yellow flip-plops, so when I think of that picture, I see the yellow, while everyone else just sees an old black and white photograph of a small ridiculous kid in sun shades with a goofy grin. 


I thought the noise they made when a child ran or walked rapidly was so cool. And getting them wet and making annoying squeaky noises was also equally fun. It's a wonder my parents even let me survive my childhood.  I was always outside the box, the odd duck, that strange little kid. 


One year when I was sent away to summer camp, it was a requirement to bring tennis shoes. Those lace up things I never liked. Mine took severe abuse, because I discovered they made river fording, much easier.  So my tennis shoes (as we called them then) were always faded with rips and tears in them, from too many rock encounters while playing about rivers. They were cheap too, not the hundreds-of-dollars athletic shoes that parents outfit their children in now. 


Some times I think I am the only person on the planet not to own lace-up shoes and T-shirts. Nope, no T-shirts in my wardrobe either. Sure, on the yachts I worked, we were often issued custom printed T-shirts as part of our uniform wardrobe.  I wore them because I was forced to for my work, but  otherwise, I owned none, save for one very special sentimental T-shirt, that I do still own to this day. I don't wear it, I just keep it around. The collar and sleeves have been cut out of it. It reminds me of something very special in my life, a wild time when I was madly in love with someone who loved me back just as fiercely, and was just as crazy as me (and it has a mermaid on it too!)  I shall not go into further detail here, but when I see that T-shirt it gives me teary eyes. 


Anyhow, back to flip-flops. How the hell this doc can compare them to 3 inch heels, well, heck, never mind,  I want some of WHAT he is smoking!  Must be good chit too. 


Speaking of the Flip-Plop Brigade...  If you are searching for the perfect Father's Day gift, check out Dear Miss Mermaid's Flip-Plop Brigade Shopping...





2 comments:

  1. Must be some VERY tall flip-flops for that comment to be anywhere near true.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What happened to the person you were madly in love with and loved you too?

    ReplyDelete


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