odd shoe

Uncle Gary was the uncle who was always on some kind of a kick. He would easily get caught up in the excitement of something new. I'm thinking about him because of a story I told my wife's family about fads. I reminisced about one Christmas when Uncle Gary had sent my father a pair of running shoes. Now this was back in the seventies and no one whore running shoes. they were very strange looking with their nylon and suede. The rubber from the sole was turned up at the toe and the heel to give the illusion that you could actually use more of you foot than was practical if you were a "runner". People didn't run back then unless they were being chased. Nobody thought about health or exercise very much. But Uncle Gary was in to it and my father announced that he was now (by virtue of the shoes alone) a "runner". I recall a total of two trips to Woodlawn High School track, my father in his ridiculously small shorts and t-shirt and new running shoes, the three kids in their toughskins and jack parcel's. My father lumbered around the track and we followed amazed at his speed and form. It seemed like it took an eternity but we finally made it around the track once and retired to Hersch's Tavern. Dad at the bar with a beer and his bar-fly friends , us at a table with tragically small glasses of Coca-cola with a cherry floating in it.