If you spend a lot of time on your feet, perhaps as a waitress, waiter or similar profession your feet will soon register a complaint if you do not select good footwear. Your workplace may require a particular style of shoe while you work in their establishment, but selecting a poor quality pair that does not provide proper arch support will eventually come back to haunt you.
So, what do you look for when your purchasing shoes as a waiter, waitress, sales professional or anyone else who must be on their feet all day? Obviously you wish to stay in your employers guidelines and make sure features such as arch support is provided. Dress shoes may be nice, but if you work in a place such as Lowes or Staples, wearing straight dress shoes while climbing up and down those ladders just invites disaster, not to mention foot problems later on.
Earlier I recommended not going with the cheapest pair but that does not mean you cannot get away cheaply. Chances are while you are on the job no one is particularly concerned about the brand of shoes you have on your feet. The Department of Heatlh seems to be far pickier about such matters as those who working in places that sell food as well as the people who buy stuff there actually covering their feet. So that brand name is not important, if you are on a limited budget and not particularly fashion conscious, Wal-Mart offers a good selection of shoes in this category although the discount shoe store Payless offers what in my mind is better quality footwear.
Most work places seem to favor a basic black in their footwear. Whether this is due to looks or the fact that black hides most of the dirt the feet are likely to pick up during the work day is beyond me, but what you are aiming for is a dressy shoe that is on the inside as close to a sneaker as possible while satisfying your employers demands. Avoiding cloth loafers or velcro in place of the laces helps to present the image your boss wants you to convey.
Having to stand on your feet all day to do your job may not be the most pleasant of experiences, but with a little care when selecting what you put on your feet can certainly keep it from becoming agony. Proper arch support can ease the pressure on the muscles of the back and make it far less likely you will be stiff at the end of the day. If the shoe you can choose or in some cases afford does not have it, you may be able to compensate buy buying insoles for the purpose from your local dollar store.
