Q - What is this shoe policy I keep hearing about?
A - Starting in 2005 the church got concerned about
the wear on the floor and, as some of the church
staff observed, it was worst after our dances.
At that point the option was for us to either
find a new place or negotiate with the church
to find a way to stay. We decided on the latter
option and that resulted in the shoe policy of
allowing either clean rubber soled shoes or
clean soft suede shoes...that's it.
Q - But most real dance shoes are hard leather and
they don't hurt dance floors. This seems like a
really dumb decision by the church.
A - True, but they felt that with lindy hop there
was a lot of grinding into the floor that caused
the clear coat finish to wear off. The church
floor is not a dance floor, it's a wooden floor
used for church functions. If the church doesn't
want to use it as a dance floor, that's their
choice. By working with them we were able to
keep the space and ease their concerns. Telling
them they are being dumb about it likely would
have gone badly. Best to work with them.
Q - Ok, but why does Mike #1 keep asking me what
shoes I'm wearing. Is he retarded or something?
I come every week. Why can't he just remember
I'm good to go.
A - We get almost 200 different people over a month
and if you throw in that not everyone wears the
exact same shoes every time then you can get up
to 300 different shoe preferences. So even
though Mike is wicked smart, that's still a bit
too many things to remember. Try it; how many
things can you remember? Try recounting all the
meals you've eaten last month, it's not easy.
Q - Fine, but geez, I tell him the shoes were ok
last week, why does he still persist on having
me show him what I have.
A - It's about maintenance. If we only allowed clean
rubber soled shoes, then most likely, the only
question to ask would be "did you bring a spare
set of shoes?" since that's a problem as some
people use shoes they wore outside. Those can
be dirty and need their own maintenance; i.e.
rinsing any dirt off of them. A bigger issue is
soft suede which needs weekly maintenance. If
we trust each dancer to keep up with it, human
nature dictates not everyone would. It only
takes one bad pair of shoes with dirt embedded
in the suede to act like sand paper and scuff
parts of the floor and cause us to have to
revisit the floor issue with the church,
something we do not ever want to do again. There
are obvious worn spots on the floor already, but
the church knows the state of the floor and
doesn't want it to get worse.
Q - I see, but why does he have to be so rude about
asking?
A - Has he been? If you're already mad about being
asked then likely you hate the message and so
you hate the messenger. Take notice about it
next time and see if he, or whoever is working
the door, is rude. Also, if you give attitude
then all bets are off, but if you are polite and
you find him being obnoxious, please let him
know. Why? Because that's not what he's trying
to do. He's trying to be as friendly about it as
he can.
Q - Does Mike enjoy checking shoes?
A - No, he misses the days he could show up whenever
he wanted, dance a few hours and help the other
Mike clean up and go out for a drink. Most
people understand but the few that don't can
make it unpleasant. Some of it is comical at
times. Like when you ask to see someone's shoes
and they show the top of them...we're not the
style police, we really only care what the
bottoms look like.
Q - Are most people angry about the shoe policy?
A - Not really. Most understand and have been very
helpful. About 1% seem to feel a certain rage
about it...we've tried talking to them but
it's best to leave them alone. Even this FAQ
won't help. There are about 5 - 10% that seem
to still be confused at various stages. They
are trying to work with us but get annoyed. This
FAQ hopefully will pull them to the majority;
the 90% that are cool with it.
Q - If you stopped blocking access to the dance
floor with the tables then less people might be
annoyed. It would be so much easier if I could
walk in and out without having to trudge up the
stage and out.
A - Well, the problem is dirt again. If we get
people to clean their dance shoes but then let
them trek dirt back onto the floor, then the
whole shoe checking ends up being pointless and
we're back to the problem of damaging the floor.
The church spends some effort in making sure the
floor is clean before we start, so having folks
walk up the stage before hitting the dance floor
adds a buffer between the outside and floor.
Q - Maybe some folks get mad because they thought
Mike was friends with them and should remember
at least their shoes. Forget the other 200 or so
schmucks, he should remember me and maybe about
half a dozen others, right?
A - Mike has no friends! Can you imagine who would
befriend someone that always asks what shoes you
are wearing. Also, Mike runs a team on Thursday
nights...well, except the first Thursday of the
month during the Stomp...and sees about 8 to 10
people for almost two hours on a weekly basis.
He asks them just the same and they understand.
Really, it seems fairer to treat everyone the
same and not show favoritism. Of course maybe
Mike is just not very smart, maybe he really is
retarded...in that case you should treat him
nice...bring him some candy or cookies to keep
him calm.
Q - Well, I don't want to bring him sweets, I don't
want any of the Mikes to get fat. So what else
could I do to calm him and make things easier?
A - Fine, don't bring sweets then. No problem. He
didn't want them anyways...I guess. Let's see,
you could just have your shoes out with bottoms
up so he can see what type of shoes you have
and check if they need cleaning. Then there'd
be no need for Mike to ever ask you again...