Gotta Be Da Shoes

You really can learn from your kids. Sometimes that's hard to admit, especially when my son is only 6 years old, but the kid does see the world differently... in a better way.

Joey had some nasty old Jordan shoes that he loved, but they smelled like mildew and sweat, which was awful, and stinking out the entire house every time he took them off.

Time to go shoe shopping. We browsed the aisles of Marshall's in Stoneham, looking for a good deal, and Joey found one.

"Check these out, Dad"

"Great... But they're pink," I said. "Those are girl shoes."

"Oh."

Joey was visibly shaken by the news and stood there quietly for a moment. There were no other shoes he liked and we drove home empty handed. He started to cry in the car, and then I asked,"You wanted those shoes, huh?" The boy nodded.

So we went back and bought the shoes. And Joey's right. Why does pink always mean girls? And why can't boys wear whatever they want? Girls can wear blue shoes. Shoes are just shoes. Who cares?

Later that night, when my wife got home from work, she looked at Joey's new shoes and said, "Those are girls shoes."

Not again, I thought, fearing more tears. But Joey held his ground.

"There's no such thing as girl shoes!" he said.

"He's right," I nodded, "But what about high heels though?"

"Nope," Joey said, "Boys can wear those too, if they want."

Damn it, he's right again. Why are all these gendered beliefs so ingrained in my head? I'm old, I guess, and Joey is the future.

He proudly wore the shoes to school the next day, and said nobody cared, or even noticed. And he saw an older kid on the bus wearing the same exact pair, only a larger size.

"And who was that?" I asked.

"I don't know his name," Joey grinned, "That's right, I said his."

He got me again.

(Later, I looked up the shoes online. Many sites described the product as "girls" shoes, while others were simply labeled "kids." Some sites are more progressive than others. And expensive too. Good deals at Marshall's, for sure.)