For years I had trouble buying shoes. Being flat-footed, it was always hard for me to find a shoe that fit and did not make my feet ache. I would buy flat-soled shoes but still deal with the pain and discomfort, especially if I was on my feet all day or if I did a lot of walking. Then one day I ordered a pair of Toms. I had never tried a pair on, but I thought they looked cute and comfortable. When I got them in the mail, I was ecstatic to find that they fit my feet like a glove, and it only took a few times of wearing them to discover how comfortable they were and how much better my feet felt. A miracle shoe, I thought.
For months I wore them everywhere – school, work, the park, shopping, and even hiking. Needless to say, they began to wear out and look a bit dingy. I was disappointed to learn that they wore out so quickly and could not be washed. I was not ready to dish out another $60+ for a new pair, as badly as I wanted them.
One day as I was in a sporting goods store, I noticed a display of shoes that looked very similar to Toms but were called Bobs, and were about $20 cheaper, and laughed. “What a ripoff,” I thought, and never considered buying a pair. Then I became more desperate for a new pair and decided to look into Bobs a little more, always ready to save a buck. I found out that they were by Skechers, and therefore must be a good quality shoe. What interested me even more is that as Toms gives a pair of shoes to a child through One for One, Skechers gives a pair to a child through Soles for Souls. So by purchasing Bobs, I would get the same shoe and still give a pair to a child in need for less money. I was sold. I found a cute style and got them for only $40.
I also read up on the controversy between the two shoes online and found that a lot of people are against Bobs and saying that they are ripping off Toms and stealing from a company that is trying to good. While it is true that these shoes look nearly identical to a Toms shoe when held side-by-side, are packaged the same way, come with a Bobs sticker, and even have a similar, although maybe cheesy, name, they have a right to “copy” Toms. They have not infringed on copyrights. No one thinks that Nike is copying New Balance just because they both making running shoes. In the same way, Bobs only took a simple idea of a popular shoe style, the same way that millions of companies have taken from others’ ideas for years.
If you’re looking for a more economical, but just as quality and moral way to buy your favorite shoe, consider a pair of Bobs.
