There is nothing more disturbing than witnessing a footwear atrocity first-hand. Okay, that's not true, but let's pretend.

The facts:

Last week I found myself in the Kohl's shoe department. I say 'found' because I can't remember why I was there and, trust me, when I go to Kohl's for footwear there is always a reason. Ferragamo? The back clearance room in Von Mauer? Those trips are pure recreation.  When I go to Kohl's for shoes, I go with a purpose. That's just the way I roll.

Anyway, I'm in the Kohl's shoe department and I see them: a certain style of sandal (extra points for alliteration) that had been unleashed on the world last year. They were ridiculous. I thought they would be in and out of fashion in less than a humminbird heartbeat. Yet, here they were for season two and they had multiplied.  A full row of different variations was dedicated to this style. That's part one.

Part two happened this past Monday. I was back in Kohl's shoe department due to a shoe emergency that has no bearing on this story. Plus it might make one of my family members mad so my lips are sealed. Anyway, remembering the row of ridiculous sandals I brought my camera, thinking it would be fun to take a picture of  it and write a post. Well, guess what. Only one style still remained on the display shelf. Below it looked like this:
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That's right. Only two boxes remained.

From the photo above, I'm not sure if you can appreciate the full glory of this sandal so here's a close up:
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Seriously?

What am I not seeing here? Is there some chilly ankle epidemic I'm not aware of? A sudden fancy for cankles? I can't remember the last summer day when I said, "My toes are so hot but my ankles are so cold! Why don't they have sandals for that?"

Maybe I'm just out of touch, but those things look incredibly silly. Am I alone here, or are you with me?

Tell me, what do you think?
 
 
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TV wasteland? Definitely.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”
- Albert Einstein

There’s this girl. She’s smart, beautiful, and talented. Her grades? Great, too, but only because she works hard to maintain them. She’s on the volleyball team, is first chair in band, and just made National Honor Societ, too. As for her boyfriend? He’s a nice guy who treats her well. Her parents are pretty cool, too.

So, wanna watch a TV show on her life?

OF COURSE NOT. Her life's boring! But there’s this other girl….

What a hot mess. Last year she quit school so she could work as a pole dancer to support her 10 month-old daughter. She’s not sure who the father is, but no worries. Her sights are set on a new baby daddy. Will it be the heavy metal biker who likes to spank her in public, the stoner with a World of Warcraft addiction, or the totally hot ladies’ man who also happens to be a pimp? Whoever it is, she better snag him soon -- her alcoholic mom is kicking her out of the house in a week.

YEAH, BABY! That’s what I’m talking about. We wanna watch HER!

And that, my dearies, it’s what wrong with America today.

Okay, I get it. The drama is crazy fun and over-the-top characters are a scream. But I’m so tired of the media rewarding stupidity and bad behavior by giving morons TV shows. I mean, what does that say about us?

I know, I know. Just because you watch it, doesn’t mean you’ll act that way. For most folks, that’s true. But there are others out there who aren’t so bright. They take their cues from the media, like those girls who are trying to get pregnant so they can be on ‘Teen Mom’ or the scores of people making embarrassing videos of themselves so they can be on ‘Real World.’ Heck, some just do it for 15 minutes of fame on YouTube.

It seems we’re moving from a culture that venerates those wise and honorable to one that idolizes the flamboyantly misguided. And while Snooki might be nabbing $10K per episode on ‘Jersey Shore,’ there are a lot more wannabes out there spending their minimum wage paychecks on bronzer and hair spray hoping to make it big.

Their chances don’t look good.

So go ahead and watch the stupid shows, just don't be fooled into thinking they've got the ticket to real success.