Certainly you have heard the expression “To understand somebody, you must walk a mile in their shoes.” Somebody at the March open mic has taken this expression very seriously, and has been getting to know Ronnie, Jaime, and Joel very well as they are walking in their flip flops and sandals after having “exchanged” their own for theirs. This is fine, to an extent, but now they would like their footwear back. Especially Ronnie, who unlike Jaime and Joel who only lost cheap flip flops, lost an expensive pair of hiking sandals in an exchange for fall apart dollar store rip offs. This leads to the question, who is trying to understand Ronnie? Well, we all are, but that’s not the point. Who has taken it to the level of walking in his sandals, and how far do they have to walk until they get the answer they looking for? Surely, they have gone a mile by now, so why haven’t they returned the sandals? Should Ronnie be worried? What will this person do with the understanding they receive? Will they hold it against him? Blackmail him? Frame him for a crime he didn’t commit? Or will they show him compassion? Love? Buy him what he really wants for his birthday? Or will they just give him his sandals back like he really wants? They have to understand that, right? Understanding each other is great, especially when we live in a community. But to take somebody’s footwear without consent is just wrong, so don’t let this turn into a “thing” to do. Let the footwear you walk into EMAX with be the footwear you walk out of EMAX with, unless you have consent from the owner; then you can wear any footwear you want.
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