The Local Channel Chat

Ok I'm completely baffled!

And there was me thinking that I had a good education with an answer to most things. Until I began to observe the single shoe in the road syndrome.

Have you ever wondered why it is that there is only ever one shoe lying in the road or by the kerbside? How did it get there and under what circumstances do you think? Oh I admit that there are some genuine examples regarding pure accident - one example being that some time ago I did a run from Glasgow to London for charity and at the end of the run, accidentally left my track shoes on top of a London taxi. ( I did get them back thanks to the beeps of a few observant motorists) but surely the footwear examples I have seen of late, high heels, wellingtons and many variations of mens casual shoe. Surely these did not all get there due to charity work.

                            

So just what causes the lonely old "sole" to get there in the first place? (apologies for the pun but it was intended)

It's an enigma that I cannot solve myself and one which I am sure I am not alone in trying to understand. I'd love to hear what people think.

Maybe we can start a light-hearted chain of comments and observations to one of life's biggest mysteries.

 

Me thinks maybe a few one legged peeps are wondering the same !!!!!!! seriously I have often wondered the same and it crosses my mind that the person who lost the shoe had perhaps had some kind of mishap on a drunken night out, or maybe toss the shoe is some kind of weird new sport...hmmmmm

ha! There was a kid's shoe in the gutter here for about two months Don't know where it came from - or where it walked off to (You're not the only one who can pun :( ! There's a lot of single shoes out there:

In order to help you with your research I have posted your conundrum on MySpace and Flickr.

I think it is a valueable question worth getting to the bottom of and one which intrigues even me  at the best of times.

Seeing a solitary shoe in the kerbside, for me, always begs the questions as to why and how and what circumstances has it got there?

I shall be keeping a close eye on your research to see what responses you get to this rather unique observation and the quest you have embarked upon.

See MySpace Profile I hope that you like the profile I have done for you.

It is also nice to see a fun filled topic posted in the way it has been.  

Regards 

 

Thankyou! FFlop

I like the link and the additional material you have posted to outline my reasearch..I hope that others will follow suit and add their comments and pictures.

Obviously, I will be using this forum to keep everybody abreast of findings and to see what others say.

 Cheers

Many thanks for your theory

Although I am not sure that it is all fully attributable to alcohol. For the times I have suffered instability with my gyros I have never once lost my shoe(s). I would find it hard enough talking never mind trying to undo laces that ressemble a pit full of vipers (least that is how it appears when under the influence of alcohol).

I wonder what the train of thought might be to take off your shoe when under the influence?

I also hasten to add that when you see some shoes they are on motorways believe it or not....the M27 is a haven for all types of shoe and yes, I see them when crawling along at a snails pace and usually in the central reservation. So it then begs the question is the drunkard on the motorway as a passenger ( or worse still driving) when they decide to cast off 50% their footwear?

 

Can I add to this thread a similar phenomena which I like to call, "Trainers on a telephone line" ---- Why? how? who?

I believe there is a group or society that distribute just the right amount of single roadside shoes or pairs of "line trainers" to make this an amusing event and get people asking the question 'Why?'. 

 

Now that I have to see ? Trainers on a telephone line - are you sure?

Do you mean that a training shoe is perfectly balanced ( unlike the individual who may have put it there) on telephone wires?

I am sure that I speak for all and would love to see a pcture of this strange phenomenon - it will go with all the others I am sure.

 

 

Not singular but plural, although a single trainer on a phone line would be even more interesting than the single roadside shoe phenomena.

Intricately balanced it would appear - unlike those, it would appear, who put them there.

Do you think there is a connection between the roadside shoe and the size 9's on the wire?

Again, one wonders what the train(ers) of thought were to even consider putting them up there in the first place never mind the actual physical effort.

The plot thickens!!

 

 

In order to expand this research why not copy this link into an email to your friends.

http://www.thelocalchannel.co.uk/community/forums/t/117.aspx

They will need to register in order to reply/add any comments to the existing debate...but aside from that they can also create their own topics in their own communities. Registration is simple and quick - it's totally free as well.

Details on how to do this are clearly identified in the forum itself.

Let's see what everyone thinks by getting them to join in the fun - they do not have to reside within a community to comment on it.

 

Now this is taking plural to the extreme!...I did a bit of sole searching and found this picture from a telephone line in Brooklyn NY.

 

That must have been one hell of an evening!

So MB I guess Sheffield is being outshone - excuse the pun!

 

Those Americans, always going one better !! (or several better in this case)

 

 

Very interesting post I must say, I also wonder how these items of footwear get there, Shoes that just lay around are rather pointless, Might leave 2 shoes somewhere out there and start a shoe hunt, Prize for the winner :-)

Why start a hunt for two shoes when you can have just as much fun at home.....having two kittens in our house means that I am hunting all the time for my shoes!

Pictures though and where you are finding these lost soles will be very useful...if anybody has a problem with adding a picture please let me know

Regards