Alas, dumplings, we mere mortals were not made to tower above the ground on 6″ Lady Gaga hooves. We do not have handlers to help us navigate uneven sidewalks and to assist us if we stumble while stepping out of the limo. We must be able to jump in the car, find a parking space in the remote lot way over by the Congo Church (as we charmingly refer to the Congregationalists here in New England — others will know them as the UCC), zip to the hospital entrance, get the room number of our dearly beloved from the nice volunteer at the front desk, cruise down slippery hospital corridors and arrive composed, gracious and pastorally prepared at the bedside of said Dearly Beloved.
For those of you doing CPE this summer, you will do nothing but cruise around those long, slippery hospital corridors moving silently and prayerfully from bed to bed, family conference room to ER, with the occasional break in the cafeteria or the rest room, and the even more occasional moment of respite in the hospital chapel.
You need good, comfortable shoes. Every year at this time you flock to me. “PeaceBang! What shall I wear for CPE?” And it has come the season for me to help you answer that question. As soon as I get a moment, I’ll be doing a lengthy post on clothing but for now, for the gals, I have found a pair of very comfortable, very durable, and not too frumpy Mary Janes that will serve you very well. They are the Toyah Mary Jane by Keen. I got them on sale at Planet Shoes for $59, but they retail for up to $90.
They are not elegantly professional. However, they are cute with pants and skirts, not too dopey Olive Oyl-looking (although they seem so in the photo), and they’re very versatile in the Madder Brown color (which is the one I bought). You can wear them with black, blue, grey, brown… they’re a good shade of rich red/brown.
I know, I know. PeaceBang loathes mary janes on mature women as a general rule. However, for someone who has been in and out of hospitals and nursing homes as much as I have the past few months, I can tell you that when you’re doing that much hustling in hospital corridors, nothing serves so well as a good rubber-soled shoe that offers excellent support, cups the foot like a sneaker, and doesn’t need shining. These fit the bill, and they win a PeaceBang Halo of Praise.
I am doing CPE this summer and was planning to give my trusty black Danskos One Last Hurrah by wearing them out before they are retired, but I’m also looking at cute flats. I adore Keens, and these mary janes aren’t bad, but I found THESE on Zappos:
http://vip.zappos.com/keen-paradise-ballerina-black
…….I think I’m in love. Cute, flats, Keen-comfort, and super outsole. I haven’t tried them on as of yet so I can’t officially endorse them (sigh, online shopping), but they look AMAZING. Thoughts, PeaceBang? Yes/No?
[I think at your age, yes. I think on a more mature woman you’d really have to make sure you’re wearing them with very classic clothes that fit well, as their dignity factor is low, but their cuteness and comfort factor is very high! – PB]
Yes, indeed. I’ve served as a staff chaplain, and my go to shoes were danskos, and select rocket dogs. I also had a pair of Mary Jane crocs, but ONLY for the overnight shifts when my hours cross the 32 hour mark!
It’s really trial and error, since what fits one person will not fit another. (I think PB can’t wear danskos, right?)
But I do look forward to te clothing post! It’s a hospital, which is a corporate environment. The chaplains have to walk the line between cuddly patient care and hospital official. Whew.
Not even if I’m dead. I wear Stuart Weitzman wedges with a good rubber sole for long masses, funerals – work on turf and hospital visits. No frump for this goddess – at least not in public. [We bow to you. My broken up feet can only do my wedges and heels when I’m not in a rush and don’t have far to walk.I used to be able to, but this last October broken foot has put me out of the running for fashionable shoes for hospital visits. See what I did there? “Out of the running?” That’s why I get the big bucks. – PB]
Oh, yes; comfort is the first consideration – padded footbed and good arch support. After that comes non-slip soles, and then silence. It’s very disconcerting to find that the only things making noise in the quiet hours are your shoes.
My choices mostly vary between Sperry Top Sider and Thom McAn (I love Dansko; Dansko hates me), because after the functionality cut they often have something that looks professional. Buy 2 pair and keep one in the office. If you can keep your spare pair in a fridge, so much the better.
Before I did my CPE, my mom and I drove half an hour to get to an old-fashioned, family owned shoestore, the kind where the salesman still sits you down and measures your feet before they do anything else. The shoes I bought were at the time the most expensive I had ever owned, but it was worth it. And they were sort of Mary Janes, but a little more adult take on them. This was necessary, since I did my CPE at a mental hospital–it was the only CPE site within driving distance of my home, and besides the savings of living at home, I figured I wanted to have the emotional support of my parents if necessary. The most important criteria for shoes was that you had to be able to run and dodge in them. The chaplains were the only staff not allowed to wear tennis shoes. They told us that, and then followed it up with *but dont worry, clients rarely go after chaplains …* which was somehow less than reassuring.
While I was there, a nurse on another ward got stabbed through the ear drum by a patient who thought she was possessed by an alien and was trying to save her from it. But just like they predicted, neither I nor any of my fellow students had any serious trouble.
These and dansko type clogs are great, but I’ve found several pairs of well cushioned flats (one by clarks, another by cliff mountain maybe?) that work well.
No one in their right mind wears heels. Where I work It screams “administration”, “desk job” or “first year resident”.
These shoes were my spring-time purchase for basic black shoes.
http://www.lordandtaylor.com/eng/Shoes-Wedges-Yolata_Wing_Tip_Wedge_Pumps-lordandtaylor/184422
They’ve been worth every penny I spent for them. They work with pants and skirts (worn with black tights). And I’ve found they’re easy to dress up or down. I travel for my call and these are great because I can walk through airports, look professional during the day and then throw on jeans at night and still look appropriate.
These would be go-to shoes if I were doing CPE this summer.