Doing Without...for One Day

Guys just don't understand women.  I'll be the first to admit it.
I don't think we're allowed to.
Especially when it comes to the 'shoe thing'. 
About 13 years ago, me, my younger brother, and his then-girlfriend all rented a two-bedroom duplex after they were done with school and I was saving up to buy my first house.
Jenny easily owned more than fifty pairs of shoes.  I don't remember an exact number, and chances are, neither does she. 
What I did remember is that with all of these shoes in her closet, she spent the majority of her time in the house padding around barefoot or in socks.
"You just don't understand," is what she said when I inquired about it one day.
Perhaps not.  But I do know I regularly wear every pair of shoes I own.  I have about twenty pairs, and I'm told that's a lot for a guy.  The oldest pair is my burgundy wingtips I bought at a Montgomery Ward going-out-of-business sale, and the newest pair is my Nike Cortez retros (same style that Tom Hanks wore in "Forrest Gump") that I got for Christmas in 2010.
And in a lot of countries, I have enough shoes to take care of a full classroom in a Third World country.
It's something to think about.
I became aware of TOMS Shoes annual "One Day Without Shoes" initiative about five years ago, when the local city clerk announced she was going to go barefoot for a day in the office, and encouraged her co-workers to do the same.  She's done it consistently since then, even with below-freezing temperatures last year in western Pennsylvania.
This is not a college kid either I'm talking about.  Without advertising her age, she has two grown children, one of whom babysits my daughter on a regular basis.
This year's is this Tuesday. 
For those of you who aren't familiar with TOMS, go to their website at http://www.toms.com/.  Better yet, go to the website http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/.
Both sites explain the story behind TOMS and the 'barefoot challenge'.
Are you up for the challenge?
Today, take a moment if you will, and remember how often you've said to yourself about a particular article of clothing "I wouldn't be caught dead in that!"
And think of someone else half a world away saying "you should be so lucky".
Be a better person tomorrow than you are today.  Start by taking nothing, and I mean nothing, for granted.  Including the clothes on your back and the shoes on your feet.
Oh, and how much did you pay for those Uggs again?

NEXT WEEK:  Primary Colors