“You are 47 years old and what do you think you are doing wearing these shoes?!” my teenaged daughter gesticulated, pointing at my squeaky-clean grey VANS. I looked down at my feet and I was totally confused at the question. Try as I did, I could not comprehend why my daughter all of 17 at that time, could have an issue with her not-so-old father wearing the same brand of shoes that she practically lived in. All I knew was that I never liked her torn black VANS that she always wore! My shoes were eminently better and looked immaculate. While these shoes reminded me of the white thin-soled canvas shoes that I wore to school every Saturday, these were way more comfortable. However, as is my habit when it comes to an argument with my younger daughter, (she has a counterpoint to everything I say!), I immediately went on the defensive asking her why I couldn’t wear them and also that there were no restrictions around age appropriateness of VANS, last I checked.
The canvas shoes, VANS in question, and several other coloured pairs that I possess has a very interesting story around it. VANS first launched in 1966 in Anaheim, CA, as The Van Doren Rubber Company. Doren who was an executive at one of the shoe companies noticed that the manufacturers’ profit margins were just a fraction of the retailers. . He, along with a couple of others decided to make their own shoes and went directly to the customers. What I found extremely interesting was that they used old machinery to set up the factory in a year to make these extremely durable shoes and in Van Doren’s own words, “as strong as Sherman tanks”. The soles were twice as thick as the others and the canvas the strongest one could lay hands on during those days. For many years Van Doren refused to advertise till one day he decided to give $300 to a professional skateboarder to wear them while competing. That quirky decision was the genesis of these shoes becoming popular amongst young teen skateboarders. The iconic checker board slip-on shoes became a rage when Universal Studios decided to feature them in a couple of movies. It suffices to say that after many ups and downs the company today has morphed into a very successful retailer which deals with shoes, merchandise and apparel.
My run in with my teenage daughter on the appropriateness of wearing a pair of VANS got me thinking. While not a scientific and well thought out process, I started making a note mentally, of the approximate age of people wearing these shoes whenever I was outside, and further during my occasional visit to the mall from where I bought these shoes. I also noted the kind of clientele visiting the shoe retailer. My idea was to further try and figure out if my daughter’s thumbs down on my choice of footwear was the result of an unconscious mid-life crisis I was experiencing. My attempt at making a cogent case that VANS were age agnostic was given an immediate fillip when I saw many men who were my peers or marginally younger, wearing these shoes. I also couldn’t help but notice large number of millennials sporting these shoes, which again obfuscated the mental notes that I had made. This shoe-watching habit kind of grew onto me and I started engaging in the same even in my travels abroad. One day I mustered enough courage and commented to this 40-something gentleman sitting across me in an airport lounge that he was wearing a nice pair of VANS. This gentleman leant over and asked in a conspiratorial whisper, “aren’t all VANS nice?” This made me dig deeper and I asked him slightly hesitantly how long he had been wearing VANS. I was quick to add that I did not represent the company and it was just out of plain curiosity to which he smiled and replied that he had been wearing them since his childhood. Persisting with this line of questioning since he seemed to be the friendly kind, I asked him as to why he chose to wear these shoes the first time and why he had continued for many years since. He smiled and asked, “aren’t these shoes the most comfortable shoes that you own?!” I nodded dumbly in response to that question. Soon it was time for my flight and as I was leaving he said something I distinctly remember, “don’t we each have some clothing or possession that we just love no matter how long it may have been with us? Don’t you just enjoy that possession because that makes you happy and never ask why?”
On the flight back, at some point when I was kicking off the shoes it struck me what the gentleman had remarked made so much sense = heck these comfortable shoes just made me happy. Happiness is just such a rare thing and why was I over analyzing things! So next time Aakansha and Kavya, when you ask me why I don’t act my age, answer that same question when your daughters ask you guys just that! Round 10 to me!
