Relative Something

Monday morning I was standing on the wooden floor where my regular thrice-weekly futsal matches are held, and I felt an obstruction under my foot. When a pause in play allowed, I headed back to the spot to remove the debris. Turned out to be a piece of rubber from the sole of a shoe. I made a quick check of my own shoes and satisfied myself that it wasn’t mine, and tossed it to the side, mentioning to the player next to me that someone was missing part of their shoe.

Not long after that, I felt something amiss beneath my foot again. Closer inspection revealed a portion of the sole was torn, and a portion was missing. Oops! So much for my initial quick check. Have I mentioned that my eyesight is showing signs of degradation? I went back and retrieved that piece I had tossed aside earlier. It was a perfect fit.

D’oh! There I was, standing on the court, saying, “Someone lost a part of their shoe!” after I noticed it under my foot. Geez, John.

After I got home in the evening, I searched online for replacement shoes and easily found just what I wanted at a nicely discounted price, and on a site boasting free 2-day shipping! If that were to work, I would have them just in time for Wednesday night Floorball. Too good to be true?

Just in case, I went to the utility cupboard and fished out a tube of Liquid Nails adhesive. I plied the fine art of rubber shoe sole repair and smeared the adhesive all over the shoe, my hands, and the kitchen counter. It is a good thing I acted so proactively. Turns out there was a nation-sized blizzard that comes along once every 50 years or so and just such a thing wreaks havoc on the 2-day shipping promise. I arrived home Wednesday evening to find no new shoes in sight.

I am happy to report, Liquid Nails prevailed over the maximum abuse I could dish out in my floor ‘hockey’ game. And my new shoes showed up last night in time for this morning’s futsal. I will be keeping the old pair as a backup, in case I find myself tripping over more pieces of my soles and neglect to recognize it belongs to my own shoe.