Monday, January 12, 2004

Lost: Shoe Last Seen: On My Foot While Driving Down Interstate

Is there anyone out there who can explain to me how so many shoes end up alongside the interstate? No matter where I am in the US, it seems that I can always look out the window and find a stray shoe, missing both its mate and its owner. When I was at home, I was going around the loop that connects I-65 S and 265 E and counted five such shoes on that short stretch of road. And the phenomenon is not restricted to Kentucky. I checked. There were shoes on the Beltway in DC too. These stray shoes come in all styles and sizes: women’s shoes, men’s shoes, children’s shoes, sandals, tennis shoes, work boots, loafers. I’m pretty sure the shoes don’t walk away on their own, but how in the heck do they end up there, forlorn on the side of the interstate? Do people suddenly decide while they are in the car that they no longer like or need their shoes and thus hurl them out the window? Are they riding with their feet out the window when a burst of wind comes by and steals one shoe right off their foot? Do they have their ex-significant others possessions in their cars and in a fit of anger start pitching the shoes out one by one? Does one passenger fling their shoe at another passenger and the shoe ends up flying out the window? And why don’t people ever stop and get their shoes? Unless you accidentally left your shoe on the top of your car like a cup of coffee, I don’t see how you could lose a shoe while driving down the road and not notice it. This really puzzles me, so if anyone has any theories on how this happens and why there are so many mateless shoes decorating our interstates, please let me know. I’m really puzzled.

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