Tuesday, August 14, 2012

New Boots

Tomorrow I've got to pull on my boots, strap on my gun belt, and go back to work.  It's been a fun summer, but it's over.  One of the downsides of working in the schools is that you have to work a lot of extra hours.  Every football game, basketball game, track meet, debate tournament, school play, open house, whateverthehell the school  might decide to host, the resource officer is there.  The upside is that all that extra time goes into what we call a K-time account and we take it off in the summer. 

Like folks returning to school all over the world, I always start the year with new footwear.  Over the course of my career I've worn lots of boots.  Cowboy boots, combat boots, rubber boots, they're all a part of the uniform.  For the past several years I've been wearing Bates Ultra-Lites, so yesterday when I went to the store, I walked immediately over to the Bates display and picked up a box.  Didn't even try them on, wasn't concerned with looking at other brands. 

Last years boots will become my hunting boot.  The set that was last year's hunting boot goes into the trash.  They're done.  One day I might try another boot, but not to-day.  I really like Bates boots as a walking/service boot.  I'm not jumping out of helicopters anymore, I don't need the ankle support that Corcorans gave me.  I'm not wandering around in the rocky desert, so I don't need Danner's any more.  Bates provides good comfortable boots for a beat cop, and that's what I do at this stage of my career.  If you're looking for a good pair of boots, might I suggest Bates.  They've got the PawPaw seal of approval.

2 comments:

Ed Jones said...

I have gone from 11 1/2 to 13, from age 55 to 65. They say we lose arch over the years.

Rivrdog said...

For my first 7 years as a Deputy, I wore Bates or Acme Paramedic boots. They were pull-on style, 12-inch tops, and they too a good shine. When I got them, they went straight to a cobbler to have a Vibram lug-sole installed. I got about 2 years out of them, then the instep area would start to crack and then they wouldn't hold out water.

The price was low enough, $40-49, plus another $25 for the soles, that could change them out when I needed to. They were a tax deduction, too.

In my second incarnation as a Deputy, starting in 1985, the copping world had gotten away from pull-on boots almost entirely, and I wore USAF Aviator boots until assigned to Marine Patrol duty, when I went to Water Sandals or water-tolerant cross-trainers. My last assignment, on foot in the Courthouse, I went beck to Bates, their "4-way stop" low quarters, excellent shoes. I still wear them as dress shoes with a suit and tie, on the rare occasion when I still have to dress like that.