In 1998, I remember walking into Foot Locker and shopping for new shoes. I saw a pair of blue/yellow and yellow/blue Adidas shoes. They were low cut, basic style, flat soles, and suede body. I didn’t know it at the time, but they were durable tanks. The yellow/blue pair looked too much like bananas, but the royal blue/yellow shoes were just right. It was love at first site.

10 years later, I was still wearing them. I may have put them away for a year or two, but they were always around. I never did any physical activities in them. (Although, I let my high school friend wear them for tennis a couple times. They got dinged when he skidded his feet) Structurally, they remained sound and without tear. They were “getting around” shoes. At the heels, the soles were wearing down from when I dragged my feet. The royal blue lost it’s pristine tone and turned navy/black. The yellow stripes turned brown, but they got better with age.

In my hagwon days, last year, I wore them to English classes and incorporated them into my lessons.

“Are my shoes dirty or clean?”
“They are DIRTY!”
“Are they new or old?”
“They are OLD!”
“HOW old are they?”
“…”
“They are 10 years old. How old are you?”
7 years old!”
“*grimace* “Are they pretty or ugly?”
“They are UGLY!”
“wrong.”

After 10 long years, the only problem was the smell. If I wore them on a hot summer day, the smell after taking them off was putrid. It was the smell of granola and sweaty ass. It couldn’t be subdued. It penetrated my socks and my feet. No amount of Febreeze or baking soda could tame the smell. And for that reason, I had to retire them.

They still reside back at home, but only because I couldn’t bare to throw them away. I wanted to send them to a Nike recycling center. That way they might be resurrected as a rubber turf or track. But, recently, I decided it was time to move on. Fortunately, I found a pair of the same style, but different colors.