The sandal decision ....

This past week has been "one of those" weeks for me. One of the incidents that occurred is that one of my sandals broke. Normally this might only be slightly irritating, but these sandals are Doc Martens, not some flimsy footwear you might pick up at Walmart. Now, I've had them for quite a long time ... the first time I wore them was in Los Angeles when I traveled with Purdue to the Rose Bowl at the end of 2000. However, even after five years of use (in the summer, of course), I don't really expect the strap to break. I have another pair of Doc Martens that have survived just fine, only the sole has almost been completely worn down ... that's different to me than a strap breaking off the body.

I went to the hardware store with my dad yesterday, and we picked up a couple of rivets for an attempt to re-rivet the strap to the body, which he did for me this morning. Now, here's my dilemma. Should I buy a new pair of sandals anyway, just because these might not be trustworthy? I have this fear that if I'm a decent distance away from home, the thing will break again and I will be stuck trying to walk in a broken sandal all day. If I do decide to buy more sandals, my options are:

1. Buy a cheap pair of sandals ($5-30) from Walmart, Payless, etc, and hope they are comfortable and will last at least a little while.

2. Buy another pair of Doc Martens ($75), which are now made in China instead of England, and hope that it holds together a little better this time.

3. Buy a pair of Birkenstocks ($110), which are what I really want, because they are still made in Germany, are comfortable, and weigh much less than the Doc Martens, which would probably help me from clopping around.

Decisions, decisions. I have liked the expensive sandals I've bought, simply because I think they are more comfortable than cheaper sandals, they offer better foot support, and they will last several seasons. On the whole, I don't think 5 year on a pair of $75 sandals averages out too badly.