2 days ago i was tying my shoes and thought to myself, “there’s no way laces are still the best way to secure shoes to our feet. we should’ve made more technological progress by now, 20 seconds to put on these items of clothing is way too long. plus tying a knot needs a lot of coordination, like it’s wildly inaccessible yet remains the global default for some reason? is this just yet another way that our society subtly yet aggressively excludes people with disabilities? wait are shoes classified as clothes”
then today i watched champutee’s new video about prosthetic arms and one of the examples of everyday tasks that are assisted by a prosthetic arm was tying shoes, which has further solidified my position on this. Velcro Now
(also is this why people in at least some parts of the USA wear their shoes around the house, because un‐tying and re‐tying them is way too much work. that one’s always been super weird to me as a Canadian)
When I was a little kid, I didn't learn how to tie my shoes properly until like 3 or 4 years after "most kids" learned. Until that point, I was wearing shoes with velcro or zippers, stuff like that.
Then, I learned to tie them, and was ashamed that I had ever worn non-lace shoes. I viewed laced shoes as a sign of adulthood.
Now, decades later...I've been having the same realization as GFD above. What the hell are we doing? It's an OKAY way to secure your footwear, for sure, especially the freedom to loosen, tighten, or re-tie in different ways as needed. But surely there's gotta be a better way.
I think at some point I should just try going back to velcro or slip-on and see how that feels as an adult. I don't gotta prove my maturity anymore.
