Anyone who wears wood clogs in my kitchen will be asked to leave--on a good day. On a bad day, I will personally pull them off the offending person and have at them with axe while they watch on. .
I have been wearing 3/4 length custom orthotics for well over 15 years now, prescribed and fitted by Podaiatrists. Good orthotics demand good shoes, and I have 5 pairs of leather, steel shanked walking shoes that I swap out every day. No man made materials, no funny uni-soles, no wierd-azz concepts of how one should walk differently with some wierd-azz rocking sole schpeil. When the heels wear, I get them replaced, when the soles wear, I get them replaced. A $300 pair of good shoes will last me 7-8 years with many re-heels and one or two re-soles. Much cheaper than buying crappy Mal*Wart shoes every 2 mths.
I've suffered from plantar fascititis for almost 5 years, in spite of custom orthotics and good shoes. The only way to get rid of it is to sit on your butt for 3 mths. Had to sell my catering business to do this. Believe me, I tried everything else
I hate the wooden clogs because:
1) They are inflexible
2) the beds are shaped and do not allow wearing of custom orthotics
3) Feet slip out at un-oportune times like climbing up stairs, and walking over thresholds
4) As the Grinch would say, the noise, THE NOISE, THE NOISE NOISE NOISE!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the sound of hatred, when I hear that noise, I turn from mild mannered cook to an axe murderer, grabbing my trusty knife and looking for the source of the clump-clump-clump, and wanting to "Fix" the problem immediately.
I understand that wood shoes and clogs feature in just about every European nation's footwear history scene, as with many Asian ones too. That being said, they don't belong in kitchens, save them for ethnic dances and museums.
Oh, I'm sorry... Got me on a touchy subject. Back to regular programming......