Why "Practical Shoes"?

When I was 13, I took a summer vacation trip with my family to the east coast. My mother, the daughter of an Italian immigrant, had an old-world sensibility that included the belief that a person should dress up for special occasions, such as taking a trip on an airplane. I had my plaid sports coat and nice slacks in the suitcase when, on the drive to the San Francisco airport my mom asked, with a note of concern in her voice, if I had packed my shoes. "Yes," I answered timidly, glancing down at the scuffed tennis that I was wearing. My mother's reaction was very similar to how most kids' mothers might have reacted had they casually mentioned that they had left one of their major organs behind. WHAT? Those aren't shoes!!!!" It was Sunday and surely no stores would be open. We would fly in shame to New York. The trip would be ruined and it would be Mark's fault. We could exit in Salinas and pray for an open shoe store or maybe just head back home. As it turned out, God did intercede and a shoe store was open. We purchased a nice pair of stiff leather wing tips and the trip was saved. Today, I look to Rick Steves rather than my mother for packing advice and brought one pair of practical shoes. As fate would have it, though, it turns out that wing tips are all the rage in Italy in 2012....Shoulda listened to my mom.