So you like sneakers?

So I guess we need to start talking about shoes at some point, you know, because this story is ultimately about the shoes.

It all seemed so very simple, and because of my situation at the time I could not imagine there being any real problem. I decided that I wanted a couple of pairs of Air Jordan’s, shoes that I would wear on my days off and evenings, that was it. I was not and I am still not a very trendy person. My outfits are first and foremost worn for comfort, and while I liked a little novelty, I definitely was not going for hype-beast or even modern day style. I am a big guy, so while my options maybe limited, I can still put a fit together.

Up until this point in my life I had owned exactly two pairs of Jordan’s. The first pair was the olive and black 9’s that I had purchased from Eastbay at a very deep discount in the late nineties, and wore them exactly twice and decided even back then, this was not the look or shoe for me. I did however purchase a second pair, a Jordan brand low-cut boot to wear at work during the snow, and they were actually pretty functional.

This however was going to be different. Now that I was older and wiser. This time I was going to bear down and do the research to find the best couple of pairs me. This would also help distract me during the pandemic, and it was maybe going to be a little fun. As I had mentioned previously, YouTube had already provided me with a plethora of content to dive into, so I was all homed in and ready to go.

After about a week of catching up to who was new, what was old and what was new that was originally old, and now sold for an obscene amount, I was ready to make my first purchase. So after all that time and planning folks, I bought my first of cool hip shoes, yes a pair of Lebron Witness 5’s , the white, purple and gold colorway.

No Jordan’s fam? Well what I had fell to disclose was that two years earlier, I had purchased a pair of the Lebron 3’s and despite being basketball shoes, they looked pretty nice and they fit my wide feet rather well. The problem was that during that time frame Lebron’s had become more geared to actually playing the sport, rather than trying to appeal more to the casual shoe market, which meant a more snug, athletic fit. Unfortunately, these changes did not bode well for my wide Skechers-friendly feet. Now to my own fault, I hadn’t done any real research on those particular shoes, strictly J’s, so I was simply thinking that I would just buy the most current version and that should work. During my research I learned that this was rarely the case, in fact, it was common practice to come up with something wildly different, or it deemed you were not trying as a brand. Anyway, lesson learned.

That is showed me quickly, and somewhat expensively, how out of touch I was with the world of sneakers. As I began to delve deeper into the game I was amazed at variety, the seriousness, and more so the fact that something as simple as a shoe had developed into a multibillion dollar side hustle.

But I did not wan to concern myself with that because I needed to buy me just a couple of pairs of shoes, and then I was out . Now which ones were going to take this middle aged man from dangerously close to being forever lost in the world of dad shoes, to at least, oh he’s wearing those, nice.

After the mess with the Lebron’s I focused and decided I was not going to waste anymore time or money and get a shoe dammit. But not just any shoe of course, this was going to be my shoe that said I was cool and I was comfortable, and I wasn’t just going to follow the crowd, so I made my choice and when they arrived, I felt all the feels. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Air Jordan 312, Rookie of the Year (picture at the top of the page.).

I was proud of my purchase, they fit like a dream and were hella cool. But as those famous last words go, I was just getting started…