I spend hours a week wandering through airports, rental car agencies, hotels, etc. Lots of road warriors are out there with me. And they all wear boring shoes. Their uniforms might vary, but the shoes are the same. There's the ubiquitous techie sales rep with the pleated khakis, brown loafers, and corporate logo golf shirt. His beer belly is proportional to the amount of time he has spent in the job. Always with the requisite cell phone hanging like a six shooter in his belt clip holster. Then there's the traveling executive or lawyerly type. Boring suit. Rumpled shirt. Worn and bloated black briefcase ready to explode from all the papers stuffed inside. And always in boring loafers. If you're in Orange County, there's the Irvine resident/executive in tan dress pants and the "look I'm hip too" button-down, short-sleeve silk shirt with a muted floral pattern. Also wearing boring shoes. I try very hard not to fit into ant of those molds. It's too corporate. Too suburban. Too f***ing square. It's like an announcement that "Hey! I like beige houses and golf on the weekends. I fully intend to get fat and lazy and my last creative thought happened during my sophomore year of college! I'm a Republican, an ex-Frat boy, and enjoy visiting chain restaurants and drinking Light Beer or whatever is popular on my street that week." I don't own pleated khakis. I never, EVER wear any clothing with my corporate logo. I like micro fiber. I like black. I like shirts that don't get tucked into my pants. I don't like ties. My cell phone is always in my pocket. I carry a backpack - not a briefcase. And I hate boring shoes.
Jim Parisi