Consider This

There are days (and I would say most of our days) when

little or no attention is paid to things many of us may take for

granted. There is such a case to be made for the common

shoelace, that simple string so many of us bend over to tie

or untie in our routine comings and goings day after day.

Oh sure, when one breaks unexpectedly it frustrates and

angers us because that often happens when we’re in a rush

to get somewhere—to work or play, off to an important

appointment we’ve made. Now consider this—there are

those, a woman for instance, who slips into her clogs or

high heels, lace-less; the barefoot boy who walks all day

shoe-less across the sun-baked African plain, lace-free;

the old man who hobbles around the house in slippers

going nowhere in particular every day, sans-laces; that

casual guy who prefers loafers or cowboy boots as his

footwear style, lace-unbound. Indeed, day after day.

In our world of wonderment, of purpose and strife, we walk

with those of our own species who may explain away the ne-

cessity for laces. Those neatly-tied devices, securely bowed

or suddenly snapped in half when there are places to go, for

the trouble-free some among us, shoelaces mean absolutely
nothing.

Chris Hanch 3-4-17