By Reed Loustalot ’12
Special to The Roundup

This year, students have been walking around in what appeared to be “toe shoes,” or as I like to call them, “foot shoes.”

The company Vibram has been around for a while, but they are new to the shoe industry. They are mainly responsible for making soles for popular hiking shoe brands.

However, recently, they started making what I believe to be the best shoes ever, the Vibram Five Fingers.

The shoe slips on your foot just like a sock, and provides very little support for your feet. The shoe provides protection for the bottom of your foot, but isn’t too thick as to ruin the sensation of feeling the ground.

The idea is that you should feel like you are walking barefoot, which is how humans were designed to walk.

I personally have owned four pairs of Vibram Five Fingers over the past two years.

They all have been wonderful. I started wearing them to school over summer school and thus far this year. One of my recent pairs is even made out of kangaroo leather.

Recently, the administration has informed students wearing Vibram Five Fingers that they are not appropriate for the school environment, that they are not professional and that they just look weird.

I say in rebuttal: When has Brophy been a place where different isn’t encouraged?

I’ve worn them everywhere I’ve went for the past few months.

Yes, I get many weird looks. Do I care? No. I wear them because I enjoy them.

They may look different, but since when is that a problem?

Over my three years at Brophy, I’ve seen some pretty crazy shoes from neon Nikes to Toms.

There is nothing distinguishing these different kinds of shoes from Five Fingers, yet they are apparently allowed.

Students should be allowed to wear these shoes, because they aren’t too different.