My Dad was a postman, back in the day when they walked miles on all kinds of hard surfaces. He knew he needed to protect his knees and feet at all costs, so most of his uniform allowance was spent on good shoes, and Mom patched his uniforms until they were disreputable.

He had a saying about shoes, which he faithfully applied to us 6 kids and my Mom too "After just so long, the goodness is gone!" I bet the largest expense after food in our household was keeping us all in shoes. When I met my husband, the only pair of shoes he ever had that weren't the cheapest available were his combat boots, and at 24 he was already having foot and back problems. We fixed that in a hurry!

Now, as a retiree and bare foot lover, I KNOW better and sometimes still get into trouble. Last summer with Covid, the only time I traded flip-flops for decent shoes was to take daily walks. Wasn't doing much so I got by. But this summer, resuming errands and activities, but still lazy & wearing flip-flops? Wow! Sore feet, angry knees, aching back, and ta-da! the beginnings of fasciitis, which I have avoided since I stopped wearing higher heels 15 years ago.

I switched to brand new, properly fitting athletic shoes for errands and yard work, put the orthotics back in my well-fitted, buckle on sandals, and started wearing "house shoes" (Skechers Memory Foam). I put the tennis ball under my computer chair to use every little while. 3 weeks later - fasciitis is gone, knees are happier.

Sue