Adventures with a Boot

Once upon a time there was a girl named Cindy. One day while on her way to class, she stumbled stubbing her toe. She was so glad she didn't fall and no one saw her. Her foot hurt, but the local x-ray didn't show any problem.

However as time passed, her foot hurt worse and in a different place. She saw a podiatrist while she was visiting the big city. He sent her for a CT scan which showed two fractures: an older bone chip and a new stress fracture of a metatarsal. His recommendation was to have her wear a boot for 8 weeks. Unfortunately, he didn't have a boot in her size. Fortunately, there was one in town and he could have it sent over. Unfortunately, he had a meeting that couldn't be missed so he made arrangements for his nurse to do the fitting.

Cindy got the call that the boot had arrived and went to get it. The nurse put the boot on her foot and she merrily stumbled out the door and went on her way. After several days Cindy noticed that the top piece of the boot was rubbing the skin of her leg causing a bruise and sore. "This can't be right," she thought to herself, "I wonder what would happen if I put the nice, soft bootie on the other way. Low and behold, it fit better. "Wow," she thought, "I'm sure I have been putting my foot in the bootie the way the nurse showed me. Let me check in the instruction book to see for sure." Sure enough, the new way of wearing the bootie was the correct way.

Several days later the bootie became dirty. "It's time to wash the bootie. Since there is an extra one, let me start using that one while the other is washed."

"Oh my, she thought when she put the clean bootie on,"this sure feels strange. There isn't nearly enough padding in this one. I can't wait until the other one is dry so I can start wearing it again." She had a miserable day slipping and sliding in the unpadded boot.

That night Cindy's husband got hit in the head by the drying bootie on the clothesline in the bedroom. He looked at it. "I wonder," he thought, "there is a zipper in the bootie. Do you suppose you can take the padding out of it and put it in the other one?" Both were amazed when he was able to successfully move the padding from one bootie to the other.

While he was changing the bootie he decided to try to put more air into the padding inflating it with his own breath. The little pump that came with the boot didn't seem to be much help. "Amazing," Cindy said the next morning when she put the bootie on. "There has never been so much air in the bootie before. It sure feels better and more secure."

Several days later the top piece of the boot kept slipping out of place. "This isn't doing any good today," Cindy thought. "I wonder . . . Do you suppose that I could turn this piece around. Maybe it would fit better and not move." Low and behold, the top piece fit better turned the other way. "Maybe I ought to check the instruction book again and see if I have been wearing it wrong," she mused. Can you believe it, she had been wearing the upside down!

Moral of the story: Read the instruction book!
(The top piece is upside down in this photo.