New grip

The shoe guy said “do you want to wear those home?”
The boy nodded gleefully, jumped and said “yes”. When the old, tired and much loved running shoes hit the fresh crinkly paper of the new shoe box I felt a flood of nostalgia. I have clear childhood memories of what it was like to get a brand new pair of speed shoes.


I can picture the bright orange puffy tongue of a pair of LYNX brand tennis shoes I got as a 10 year old. I can feel the corrugated rubber ‘grip’ on the sole of a black and white pair of 80s high tops. I remember craving new shoes at times as a child; the bounce and life, the precise unpicked stitching down the upper, the bright space-shuttle white leather panels and the sharp new box they came in.

I know I wanted nice new shoes, I also remember not realising how beaten up and dodgy my old shoes were until they were placed inside that glorious new shoe box. The contrast suddenly revealed how decrepit the olds had become and how nice and fresh the new wheels were going to be. I thought about these visceral memories as my boy literally sprinted through the shopping centre in his brand new speedies.


I’ve been away from home for 10 days, travelling around, staying with Christmas friends and Christmas family. I’ve been in other people’s lives and homes and will be back in my little world tomorrow. It makes me think about my routines and habits. The systems and patterns of my life and which ones look a bit shabby and frayed. I recon there are some things that could be put into the shoe box of an upgraded option. Maybe only then I’ll be able to see how dated they’ve become. It’s easy to make a choice or have a reaction because it’s the way you’ve been doing it.


It might be great to try on some fresh new shoes and feel how they grip.