This shoe horn has changed my life

 

You're going to read this post and say, "Hey Scott, have you also come across the wheel and fire? Those are pretty cool inventions, too!"

And that's fair. I don't know why it took 51 years of life before I finally used a shoe horn for the first time but it did, and it was revolutionary.

I've always known of shoe horns, of course, but I never gave much thought as to why they existed. I assumed it had something to do with putting on tight shoes, though I just figured that if your shoes were too tight, you should buy bigger shoes, not a tool that helps jam those uncomfortable shoes onto your feet.

But that's not the point of shoe horns at all. Yes, they're a huge help in putting on shoes that are for whatever reason somewhat difficult to slip on. I have some ankle-high dress shoes/boots I like but that, by themselves, take a little effort to pull on. I bought my shoe horn specifically for those shoes.

Then I watched a YouTube video on how to use a shoe horn and my mind was blown. I simply didn't know that its main function was to serve as a sort of "slide" for your heel to move smoothly down into the shoe so that (a) the back of your shoe doesn't crease, and (b) in the case of shoes like my ankle-highs, you don't pull a muscle getting them on.

Technically, guys, we should be using a shoe horn each and every time we put on a dress or casual shoe, if only to maintain the shoe's appearance over the long term.

Who knew? Well, you probably did. But I didn't. You never stop learning, I guess.