Giving the Boot the Boot

Went to the podiatrist and got the good news... I'm off crutches and out of the boot! Good riddance! Now I have a month or so of taking it slowly and I'll be back running again. But before I go running, I've got to rid of the shoes that got me in trouble the first place.

Speaking of shoes, on the last three or so flights, I've noticed a pair in Skymall (my entertainment during takeoff and landing when I'm deprived of my toys).

What has captured my attention is the amazing claims the advertisement makes - claims such as:

• Exercise 20% longer with out fatigue  90%

• Ankle & foot pain gone  85%

The thing that amuses me about the ad is that it screams out percentages such as 90% and 85% without ever attributing the numbers to anything or anyone. It's like they're just slapping numbers next to their claims and assuming that the big numbers will give the claims legitimacy.

Let me try it out...

93% of all statistics are made up on the spot.    96%

I also like the claim, "Over 500,000 Sold World-Wide". I can't help but wonder if that's a half million pairs or a quarter million pairs.

And then there's the aesthetic aspect of their product. I don't know about you, but I'm not sure that I'd want to wear a pair of shoes covered with a pattern of... uh... tadpoles?

If anyone would potentially be interested in a pair of shoes with shock absorbing springs in the heal, you'd think it would be someone like me who just got over a stress fracture... And yet, I don't think I'll be ordering a pair.