The reason you rarely see a pair of shoes by the side of the road (Why do you always see just one shoe by the side of the road? - The Straight Dope) is related to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Even if lost shoes start out their odyssey in pairs, random forces will tend to separate them. It would be rare for these forces to bring separated shoes back into pairdom.
My ex and I spent a few years blue water cruising. South of Cuba we anchored off just a bit of rock to do some repair work. While exploring the rock (maybe two football fields big) there were easily hundreds of shoes. I’ve never seen anything like it.
I’m not sure why Cecil didn’t mention this, perhaps the truth is too terrible, but even if a pair of shoes is left at the side of the road, eventually only one will be left, because shoes are cannibals.
I was going to introduce the theory that ‘the other shoe’ migrated to The Shoe Tree on hwy 50 in Nevada… but as I looked for a link to a picture, <wail> SOMEBODY CUT DOWN THE SHOE TREE!<end wail>
I am destroyed! We contributed to the tree a few years ago and we had planned on making a pilgrimage sometime this summer. Where will the lost shoes go now?
The world is a dark, cold, place.
Not sure if this relevant or needing a new thread but, in Europe, many shoes tend to hang around in pairs, normally tied together by the laces and either side of a telegraph wire.
Following Occam’s Razor, please consider the simple truth of the matter: The one shoe on the side of the road is the one that got away. It escaped in amorous pursuit of the other sock.