I noticed an interesting pattern about myself and thought maybe it’d be entertaining to discuss how we each handle this decidedly mundane task. Or this thread will sink like a stone like most of my OPs do.
During the course of getting dressed I sit down to put on my shoes. I 99.9% always cross my left ankle over my right knee to bring my left foot into easy reach, then put the left shoe on. I never, or nearly never, lead with my right foot onto my left knee. Even when pulling on boots, it’s (nearly) always left first.
You?
Left
Right
It’s random
Other - It’s complicated.
0voters
What made me notice this enough to post was that I also recently picked up on the fact that once I've got my left foot in position & reach for the shoe, I'll nearly always pick up the right one, not the left one. I'm not really consciously looking at which is which, I just reach out and grab one. And damn if it isn't the right (i.e. incorrect) one about 80-90% of the time. What's up with that?
Mundane? Check.
Pointless? Check.
Shared? Check.
[aside]
For reasons that could make sense only to a computer, Discourse thinks this topic is similar to all of these topics. No, I'm not making any of this up.
I thought it was decided some time ago that mods should always state when they're a mod
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Clearly Discourse is in love with D-based alliteration. Which has nothing to do with my own topic title which contains no "D"s. Computers have very strange senses of humor.
Other, it’s complicated! I have episodic foot issues. Sometimes it’s my right foot (gout). Sometimes it’s my left foot (extensor tendonitis). Sometimes it’s a mix.
If I’m experiencing foot pain, I shoe the less painful foot first.
Complicated. Right now my left leg is in better shape than the right so I stand on the left and slip my right in into the shoe. For my Sketcher slip-ins that foot is done, other shoes I’ll bend over to finish up, that will work better than anything I can do sitting down. Once my right foot is secured in the shoe my right leg will be a little more stable but I’m still likely to lean on something while putting my left foot into it’s shoe. And that’s what it’s all about!
This reminds me of an episode of All in the Family. Archie and Meathead were arguing about the proper order to put on socks and shoes. I think Meathead was putting them on sock, shoe, sock, shoe, and Archie told him the proper order was sock, sock, shoe, shoe. Or maybe it was the other way around.
I voted “random”. I’ve never really noticed which shoe goes on first - the one closest to me, I guess.
I did notice something interesting awhile back about the way I put socks on though. I’m usually sitting on the edge of my bed when I do this. Left foot first, and I will pull my knee up to my chest so my heel is on the edge of the bed, then I have to reach down around my pulled-up leg to pull my sock on. But right foot, I cross it over to my left knee and pull the sock on. It’s a much easier reach that way. So how did I get in the habit of putting my sock on the left foot the hard way?
For me, I’m rarely barefoot, so it’s a rare thing for me to be putting on socks and shoes at the same time – when I go to put on shoes, I already have socks on. But, putting on socks follow the same order as shoes: always right foot first.
If I’m at home, I put my shoes on the floor and step into them, most often using a shoe horn, and I’ll probably put my right shoe on first.If I am at the doctor’s office, or I am changing into safety shoes, I’ll be seated, and I’ll probably put my left shoe on first.
My left hip is much more flexible, so it is quite easy for me to pull my left foot up higher than the right. After showering I always dry my left foot first. Putting socks on is also a bit random.
In winter, it’s right sock, right wooly sock, left sock, left wooly sock, left slipper, right slipper. Shoes don’t go on until I’m going out the door, then it’s left shoe, right shoe. I have absolutely no idea why this order.
I do that occasionally if someone is watching just to see what they say. Then I’ll use the Meathead’s explanation about hopping around on one dry foot in the rain instead standing around with wet socks on both feet.
