The Last Sneakers
The sneaker of my childhood was a high top Converse. After I started running at Stuyvesant High School, I was directed to Paragon Sports and got my first Adidas running/racing shoe. So I’ve been a lifelong Adidas guy. Lisa and the kids do Nike, Reebok and everything in between. J told me she wears size 7 ½ and buys 9 because her foot swells so much when she runs distance. I saw a Converse customizing store when I was in LA. I have some old Adidas with ugly green stripes (three) that I’m trying to replace. I don’t want fluorescent colors and patterns on my running shoe. And that’s pretty much the choice from Adidas these days. Even mighty Amazon was a bust. When I returned to NY and walked Chinatown, I found a cheap leather wallet and a soft black leather fanny pack. You just don’t pay a lot for these things especially when you know you don’t need to spend much. And there was a discount running shoe store. I skipped right past Nike and there was my Adidas shoe. I’d have liked the classic blue stripes. But as J had ridiculed, “No one wears, so no one buys, and no one sells – plain white.” Got ’em!!
So it occurs to me that I have had the current shoes for more years than I remember. I’m not that radical a sportsman that I will wear them down anytime soon. So these might be that last sneakers I get. If I had considered the moment, maybe I would have lingered over the choice longer. But, hey, we live forever don’t we?
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