Grip Socks: Windows Into My Sole

I clicked. We clicked. Now, we’re a team.

Glamp unto my feet: The mystical powers of my beleaguered feet finally unleashed.

It’s your typical love story in many ways. I first laid eyes on them at a soccer match. I was enraptured. Then, as destiny works nowadays, we met on social media — the podiatry dating site Tinderfoot. I was searching, they were sponsored. It was all so easy, so natural and effortless. With 2-day delivery! Today, we’re inseparable. Except in bed or the shower. Boundaries.

I’ve always had large, wide feet with long, gangly toes. Finding comfortable shoes is hard. In the past, my feet would either swim or suffocate inside any shoe. Then I developed plantar fasciitis, a painful foot condition that makes standing, walking, and running painful. The shoes the doctor recommended to help were so big they were like wearing clown shoes or flippin’ floppy flip-flops. I was stepping into more trouble.

Gripsocks are standard equipment for top-tier athletes like Megan Rapinoe — possibly because they get them free in their endorsement contract and don’t have to pay $50 a pair like the rest of us.

I never thought my problem could be solved by so-called “grip socks”, especially ones that looked like they belonged in a kayak. But when I first tried them on, I felt the difference. They not only kept my feet in place. They were heavier due to the rubber, grippy dots, creating the illusion of wearing a thicker sock…