Click for bigger, more lurid.
I've written about this topic before, but this morning I had, once again, one of my favorite debates. It started when I encountered one of the guards at my job at the crosswalk on my way to work:
Guard: [laughs] You have more guts than me.
Me: Excuse me?
Guard: Those shoes (see above)!
Me: Now wait a minute, let me ask you a question: were you in the military?
Guard: Yeah.
Me: And where did you serve?
Guard: Desert Storm.
Me: Now, see, that takes guts. So you have the guts to get shot at in Iraq, but not to wear an amusing pair of shoes?
Guard: Well, uh...
Me: Serving in the military takes guts; throwing on a pair of green Hush Puppies does not. I do not have more guts than you.
Guard: I... never would have thought of it that way!
What does this say about our culture? Oh, I have plenty of thoughts on the subject. I like to think, though, that for one brief moment, I may have cracked open a tiny little window in that guard's mind.
22 comments:
Dude, I love those shoes, but I'm just as jealous of the Planter's Peanuts fabric. Is that a bedsheet?
Beautiful!
Princess, I'm sending an email link to my ma on this one. My ma's pretty straight up republican, but I think she'll like this
Your job is at the crosswalk?
I love your shoes. I'm guessing the guard had absolutely zero 'don't ask don't tell' issues in the military
It's not a bedsheet, but a piece of weird fleecy-backed polyester fabric. I can't imagine what its intended use was.
Nah, Princess, the guard was right, and we see evidence here every day: you *do* have guts!
True. A sense of whimsey should not be mistaken for courage. To do so devalues courage.
You hit the nail right on the head, anonymous. And isn't it sad that something as simple as wearing a pair of shoes is seen as "brave"?
Lordy, such twisted times.
You made his day I bet.
Though sometimes whimsy is brave, if everyone else is in fashion lockstep like a massive Addicted to Love video.
I'm stealing the image and using the green for a chroma-key to matte a weather forecaster over it. Magnificent contrast!
I often dress on the LF (laugh factor). The more I laugh when I look in the mirror, the better the outfit. Some times you just need a good laugh. Those shoes rock.
Hmmm. Is the point about bravery, per se, or the hyperbolization of the language? Don't you just *love* that neologism? Aren't Miss Laura's eyes *crazy*? Aren't those hands *tortured*? Perhaps onies who live in sparkly stables shouldn't throw shoes.
That last guy just punked himself. LOL!
Onies? But, but... Laura's eyes are crazy, and Condi's hands are tortured!
Um... I don't get it.
Goes to show you how freakin' obsessed our culture is with gender typicality. Sheesh. You made a sterling point, Princess--I too hope he got it.
Those shoes ARE lurid. Thanks for brightening everyone's day.
sfmike, they're Hush Puppies from the late 80s/early 90s, and I purchased them on eBay (HAD to have them) for a truly mortifying amount of money.
I do like my shoes! They are my children.
Jeeze, my best friend had the girl version of those Hushpuppies in that same acid green back in the 90's.
I used to envy her, but time made me forget the ache of not having my own pair.
But now, the wound has been re-opened and even my new turquoise Crocs cannot begin to soothe the pain.
in a city like Washington where pleated khakis and boat shoes is an expectable clothing choice and people get all worked up about young women wearing leggings -- and suggest instead STOCKINGS of all things -- whimsical shoes just puts into question the whole order of things. why do you hate washington values, PSP?
this is actually pretty deep once you think about it some more. good blog. i dig it, baby.
Some people are really reading way too much into this whole exchange. Just appreciate it for what it was.
Also, appreciate the shoes. As someone whose work shoe selection consists of several different pairs of black leather shoes of varying dressiness (not to mention my work wardrobe of mix-and-match run-of-the-mill "business casual" wear), I salute you, PSP.
Deconstructing footwear...
Tacky is its own reward.
Hey Sparklepony,
awesome post!
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