# What explains the phenomenon of a single shoe on the Eisenhower??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 6, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303 "2013-06-06T16:37:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![geekgirl2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9a140/32.png) [@geekgirl2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geekgirl2000)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/1 "2013-06-06T16:37:19Z")
Dear Cecil - I drive the Eisenhower daily between Oak Park and the Loop. It’s not a lot of miles and yet a day almost NEVER passes that I don’t see a SINGLE SHOE laying forlornly along the side of the expressway. How does such a thing happen? I’ve put some real thought into this. For one, the shoe in question is almost always a male adult size sneaker. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman’s pump alongside the Eisenhower, nor have I seen, say, a single Clog or a lonely Snow boot. At first I thought “car accident”. But digging deeper, I would think if there was a car accident powerful enough to blow off someone’s SHOE that: 1. it would probably be fatal and that would mean there’s a fatal car accident several times a week on this short stretch of road - which would be on the news, right? But if they exist, I’m not seeing these stories on the news, and I do watch local news each morning. \ 2. wouldn’t an accident of that severity probably blow off BOTH shoes, not just ONE?? But it’s never a PAIR - it’s always just ONE single shoe. My other thought involved perhaps a couple arguing. While driving down the expressway, one rips the other’s shoe off in a moment of victory and tosses it out the car window, thereby ruining the entire value of the pair of shoes (because Air Jordans and their ilk are certainly not cheap). But that would take some serious gymnastics when you think about it and I wonder if it’s even physically possible. So that leaves me with…no real clue…the mystery of the Single Expressway Shoe haunts me and I can’t even imagine how it makes its way there so often. Please let me know if you think you know the answer to this or can shed any light on the subject. Many Thanks, The Curious Oak Parker ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/2 "2013-06-06T16:48:45Z")
Note for the uninitiated: This apparently refers the Chicago area’s I-290, specifically the easternmost part (known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Expressway - thus “the Eisenhower”) that connects I-294 to I-90/I-94. May belong in Straight Dope Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/3 "2013-06-06T16:51:14Z")
[The Master has already answered this question.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/529/why-do-you-always-see-just-one-shoe-by-the-side-of-the-road) ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/4 "2013-06-06T17:44:18Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Note for the uninitiated: This apparently refers the Chicago area’s I-290, specifically the easternmost part (known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Expressway - thus “the Eisenhower”) that connects I-294 to I-90/I-94. > > May belong in Straight Dope Chicago. Thanks for clarifying. For this Seattleite, “driving the Eisenhower” sounds like a euphemism for something dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/5 "2013-06-06T17:49:15Z")
Since Cecil has already answered this question, let’s move this to the Comments forum. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/6 "2013-06-06T17:59:31Z")
This baffles me also. I can’t think of any reason why a pair of shoes tossed on the side of highway would not stay right next to each other so that people wouldn’t be wondering why they only see one of them. ---
**Author:** ![geekgirl2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9a140/32.png) [@geekgirl2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geekgirl2000)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/7 "2013-06-06T18:00:27Z")
Wow I _loved_ the article - didn’t even know it existed! And yes Eisenhower refers to the 290 in Chicago. Sorry but I didn’t realize the Straight Dope exists _outside_ of Chicago - sorry bout that! Thanks for the replies - I will be watching for shoes that may come flying off of automobile roofs (rooves?)popping out of windows of over-stuffed cars, and being tossed out by blacked-out drunks. NEVER would have thought of any of these scenarios I must say. The one where the dog had excreted on the shoe, which was then discarded out the window, was another good one. I’m just glad to know that # of fatal “shoe blowing off” car accidents is not the main reason! The Curious Oak Parker ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/8 "2013-06-06T18:57:24Z")
> [@geekgirl2000](#): > > . . . I didn’t realize the Straight Dope exists _outside_ of Chicago . . . Yes, the rest of us are Schrödinger’s Dopers. Per the OP: This also happens with gloves (paging **Mangetout** ). ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/9 "2013-06-06T19:00:22Z")
> [@Blakeyrat](#): > > Thanks for clarifying. For this Seattleite, “driving the Eisenhower” sounds like a euphemism for something dirty. And to someone from my area of New Jersey, it sounds like the doubly abortive parkway that runs from I-280 to South Orange Avenue. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/10 "2013-06-06T20:13:39Z")
The real reason is that the other shoe is still good. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/11 "2013-06-06T20:18:13Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > The real reason is that the other shoe is still good. Or they belong to amputees. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-explains-the-phenomenon-of-a-single-shoe-on-the-eisenhower/660303/12 "2013-06-06T21:16:00Z")
Well, at least they don’t have [feet in them.](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/04/human-feet-washing-up-on-shore-in-british-columbia-canada.html)