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["Austin, Roger" <rda AT rti.org>]

 This brings up a completely different line of thought. Has anyone
noticed the unfortunate trend in shoes that squeak when you walk?
 This is a short story, but I will try to stretch it out a little. I had
one pair of shoes most of my adult life (which was in the single male
geek stage). This does not include the grubby pair you need to mow the
grass. Suddenly, another geek and I fall in love and suddenly I have
four or five pairs of shoes. (Of course, I only wear the one pair that
are comfortable.)
 The comfy pair make a squeak that can not have been an aberration. The
sound has to be deliberate by the shoe manufacturer. For years, I had
shoes so quite that I could pad around the office without a sound (when
I didn't have them off.) The squeak now means that people say "Hi
Roger!" when I walk down the hallway even before I get to the entrance
to their office. This disturbs me since I try to be incognito.
 Is it true that a manufacturer would want their shoes to squeak? If so,
is this something that came from a poll of customers or a focus group?
These are walking shoes, so I guess there could be some federal
regulation about walker safety or something. I'll search the federal
register site to see.
 My special geek ("MissHunt" of www.misshunt.com) also loves shoes like
Saundra. She has shoes that she liked so she bought a number of pairs.
She swears that the manufacturers always quit making the shoes that she
likes so she has to buy a few pairs to make sure she has those she
likes. She is telling this to a man who goes by Kmart (every decade or
so) and tries on shoes that are wired together!
 Perhaps she is doing this because they don't squeak. Does anyone else
on the list have an opinion on this?
 Roger (squeaking in RTP,
         rewriting my software development SOP,
          and becoming incoherent.)

"saundrakaerubel.com" wrote:
> 
> Now hold them there horses.  You can be a geek and need to go to a shoe 
> sale, trust me.
> I am a geek, a shoe lover, an info-maniac and NOT a bobo.
> 
> Remember, you can never be too rich, too thin, too informed, go to Paris 
> too many times a year, know too many technical languages or have too many 
> shoes.
> 
> I can always find those shoes, on sale, online, making sure no one in my 
> SMSA has them, AND not make my geek wait.  The power of the web, keeping 
> love alive everywhere.
> 
> That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
> :-)
> Saundra
> 
> t 07:42 AM 09/29/2000 -0400, Austin, Roger wrote:
> > Imagine an amorous geek being told that he has to wait
> >on love due to a shoe sale at the mall. Oh, the humanity of it all!
> > Roger (in RTP, who needs some bean!)
> >
> >"Thomas A. Beckett" wrote:
> >
> >> - Is Geek Love too dangerous a territory to get into?
> >
> >> - Are mixed marriages (Windows/Linux, Apple/Intel) socially acceptable?