Sooty

I love flip-flops. Since I discovered Reef flip-flops in college, I seldom wear any other shoes in the warm weather. I love the jaunty noise they make as I walk down the halls at work, a sound of beaches and fun in an environment that sounds like computers and the stealthy footfalls of loafers. (I am a consummate professional.) One of my pairs of Reefs got lost in my moving adventures, so I now have a handy excuse to buy another pair.

What I do not like about flip-flops is their propensity to turn my feet black. By the end of the day, there is a ring around the bottom of my foot from my feet sweating, collecting road grime, then having the dirt ground in as I walk. Since I don't like the idea of getting street dirt in my bed, I generally sit on the edge of the tub and wash them off with a bar of soap. But no matter how careful I am, I always get some black soot in my tub. It looks like a bunch of English chimney sweep boys played around in the basin of my bathtub by the end of the week. "Cheerio, me lady. We were just playing a game of cricket here in your tub. Crikey, you've got some nosty feet you do, you do."

I occasionally take a scrub brush and antibacterial hand soap to the footbeds of my flip-flops, but this is only a temporary solution and the dirt ends up back on my feet. I guess I'll have to spend a few minutes a couple times a week scrubbing away the disturbingly oily black residue from my tub, because there is no way I'm giving up my surfer shoes.