Photo by Jacqueline Chao

MY ANGLE: Flip-flops and toe socks — name a more iconic duo!

This winter I am turning over a new leaf.

Gone are the days of cold feet — literally. Because I have made the discovery of a lifetime: toe socks.

Why can’t I wear normal socks?  Well, if you haven’t noticed, my greatest accomplishment is wearing the same pair of flip-flops almost every day for the past two years.

My sister said she would disown me if I got toe socks, but becoming an only child is a small price to pay because they have solved so many of my problems.

I can keep wearing my flip-flops, and the weather can’t stop me!

To be fair, I would have worn them even without the toe socks, but now PE teacher Michelle Myers won’t scold me for having bare feet when it’s 50 degrees out.

And if I didn’t wear my flip-flops, I wouldn’t have the freedom and ease of taking my shoes off whenever I want — which is often.

The possibility of not wearing my flip-flops, even in the winter, is just not an option. Especially since I already know how it feels to not be able to wear my flip-flops.

There was a very stressful time last spring when I had to get new flip-flops after I wore out my first pair — which was a tragic experience in itself, really.

And boy, was that the search of a lifetime, as the key fact in this story is that my beloved flip-flops are discontinued. 

If you ask me, it’s a disservice to humanity to deny these flip-flops from those who hunger for the perfect shoes. But more importantly, it is an outrage that Clarks would get me hooked on this one pair of flip-flops — forever ruining other shoes for me — only to stop producing them and force me to scour the internet for another pair.

Yes, other brands make memory foam flip-flops. So what makes these so special? Why did I spend so long looking for this specific pair?

Let me break down these Clarks flip-flops for you.

Smooth, silky black cloth covering soft, perfect memory foam.

They are akin to small beds for your feet, providing a small bit of relaxation throughout the day.

So, sure, Nike makes memory foam flip-flops, but their coarse and stiff nature just isn’t the same caliber as my Clarks. It’s like comparing the sand from a Caribbean beach to pebbles.

Since wearing a different brand of flip-flops just wasn’t an option, I knew I had to continue my internet journey.

I must have reached the ends of the earth while searching.

And it paid off: After combing through what seemed like every website that sold shoes, I finally found a pair.

The only problem was that the shoes were a size 9. But they were my only option, so I ordered them and prayed to the shoe gods they would fit.

I guess they heard me, because I finished ninth grade wearing a brand-new pair of Clarks memory foam flip-flops.

OK, so I may have already worn them out too, but that’s another story.

—By Sarina Rye

Originally published in the Dec. 4 edition of the Octagon.

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