What do we want? More time!! When do we want it? Yesterday!!
Yes, with the long work week and the hassle of every other activity and event going on in our lives, it seems like we have no free time for anything. So how we choose to spend this free time is extremely valuable, and something as small as a shoe fitting will likely get swept under the rug.
I mean, come on! What’s the point right? We’re all over the age of five, so we all know our own shoe sizes. Obviously, we don’t need our safety shoes to be fitted by a professional because we can clearly do it ourselves, right?
One would think.
But, there’s actually more to sizing than meets the eye. When you’re on your feet for eight hours a day, your shoes need to fit perfectly. Or else…the improperly fitted shoe demons will haunt you until you find yourself cursing the creator of the first ever pair of shoes.
Remember back in elementary school when we had to do compare/contrast exercises? Let’s go ahead and do one of those here.
Your first day at work without getting your new safety shoes properly fitted:
You arrive at the warehouse for your first day on the job. Your new steel-toe boots look great on you, you’re feeling confident, and you’re ready for this exciting new challenge in your life.
Flash forward five hours: That same steel toe protecting your foot has now caused you to lose all feeling in your big toe. For all that you know, your big toe could have fallen off by now and ended up in one of those boxes that you just loaded onto a truck. As you hobble around on just the heel of your foot, the judgmental side-eye glare from your coworkers is all too real.
But that’s not all. Another two hours (if only all work days could move this fast), and the boot on your other foot is creating blisters the size of Mars. At this point, you’re debating whether or not just chopping your foot off entirely is the best option (hint: it’s not. Don’t do that).
Every step feels like you’re walking on knives, and you end the day by throwing your new pair of boots in the giant warehouse trash compactor. Sounds like a cheerful first day, huh?
Now here’s your first day with shoes that have been properly fitted:
When you take the extra time to get your shoes fitted by a professional, they would know exactly where your big toe should be within the shoe while standing. They’d double check this before you left the store, and they’d have you walk a few laps around the store to ensure that the shoes feel good while you walk.
A professional would also know exactly how long and wide the shoe should be on your feet. They would check to make sure that the ball of your foot is resting on the widest part of your shoe to make sure that they don’t slip around and cause those nasty blisters.
So you arrive at work in your new, stylish, and properly fitted safety shoes, and you have a completely normal and ordinary day! There’s the thrilling and anticlimactic ending that we were looking for. Safety shoes are meant to keep you safe and looking good, and they also shouldn’t distract you from your everyday activities at work.
So don’t be that person who says, “But they felt ok when I tried them on in the store!” as you hobble around while cursing your new shoes. Get them properly fitted and checked out by a professional.
Any questions? Feel free to visit our sizing and fitting page here to read about specific shoe sizes and width letters: https://www.safgard.com/education/sizing-fit