My Jet Plane Shoes
by Oliver Carlos
I really don’t buy shoes very often. Yes, I play an average of 100 basketball games per year since 2004, but I just wore around 3 pairs of shoes in that span of time. I wore white-and-blue Carmelo Anthony shoes for 5 years, and then I replaced it with black-and-purple Steve Nash shoes for the next 5 years. From 2015 up to 2020, I wore teal Draymond Green shoes. Right now, I’m wearing Stephen Curry shoes and I think they will last for this whole pandemic period. My secret for having durable shoes? It’s all about the sole.
My basketball shoes’ tops are quite durable. They don’t get ripped on the sides. The wear-and-tear happens on the soles. They get so thin or “pudpod” by constant friction, especially on concrete and asphalt courts. They’re like pencil erasers. When that happens, I bring my shoes to my shoemaker, and he recaps them with scrap rubber. This thick rubber he puts on my shoes are actually from the tire of an airplane!
Airplane tires are built to be extra-ordinarily durable to meet the demands of the aviation industry’s standards. Later, the used tires go to shoemakers who stitch them on shoes with worn out soles.
I was peddled this idea by my shoemaker, Chris Solas. He’s my faithful, one-and-only shoe repair man for 2 decades now. His shop is located near UPLB’s Raymundo Gate. His family name suits him well. They’re a family of shoemakers. He has an older brother who had a shop in Grove, Los Banos. That’s where he learned the trade, by serving as apprentice to his brother.
Wearing shoes with rubber from airplane tires makes me feel good and confident. I also feel like I’m living up to my name. My nickname is Jet, and my shoes are literally Jet shoes. But the best thing I like about my shoes is that it saves me money. Instead of buying shoes every year, I just buy one pair every half decade.
Do you know that there’s a Bible story about shoes or sandals that never wore out, like my Jet shoes? We can find it in the Old Testament. After being slaves in Egypt, the Israelites had their exodus to the Promised Land. They were at least 1 million in number. They crossed the Red Sea, and then walked in the desert for 40 years.
God provided all their needs in that 40 years of wandering. He gave them their daily food- bread and meat. God provided them water. He protected them from the heat of the sun and the cold of the night. There was a cloud that functioned like an umbrella by day, and a large bonfire in the sky at night. God also protected them from raiders and wild animals. Curiously, God also solved their clothing and footwear needs.
“The Lord led you through the desert for 40 years. During that time neither your clothes nor sandals wore out.” (Deuteronomy 29:5, ICB)
I find this story very encouraging and very relevant to our time. Just like the Israelites who were walking across the desert, we too are traveling across this difficult time in history, the Covid-19 pandemic. If God provided his people everything they needed in the trip, I believe he will also enable us to endure this crisis. God will provide us everything we will ever need. He will carry us through, no matter how rough and tough the road ahead is. If we are in Christ, we are God’s people. He will take care of us just like what happened in the past.
