The truth behind the Sambas: Not everything that glitters is Gold

Last week, when the sun was beating down hard and the thermometer was climbing above 30, we had one of those visits you never forget.

A couple came into the shop who, adding the age of the two of them together, you can easily reach a century and a bit, but with a sparkle that many twenty-somethings would love.

He, a veteran of minimalism, wearing his Merrell Trail Glove 7 as if they were an extension of his feet, and she, as if she had just come out of an indoor football match with her Adidas Samba.

He had come for a pair of Pies Sucios Terra sandals for the summer; he had liked the previous version so much that he wanted to repeat. And this is where it gets interesting.

While we were chatting, the lady let out a 'I'm going to sit down, I can't take it anymore' that echoed throughout the shop. Pablo, her husband, tried to take the heat off the matter by saying that sometimes his wife's blood pressure dropped.

But no, it wasn't just tiredness. She was dealing with a pain in her feet that had her literally on the floor.

And of course, seeing her sitting there, defeated, in those narrow shoes (with a pattern of 3 slanted lines), which looked more like a Chinese torture than an athletic shoe, I couldn't help but ask:

'What exactly hurts?', and wham!, she comes out with Morton's neuroma.

That is.

You know, that nerve thing in the toe area that gives you a real pain in the ass. And on top of that, after treatment, she was still in pain and didn't know why.

Here her husband came back into the picture with: 'I'm tired of telling him that he has to change his shoes, but he doesn't listen to me'.

She with the typical and hackneyed: 'it's just that minimalist shoes are so ugly, you know how we women are'.

And that, my friends, is the crux of the matter.

She had bought the Sambas for fashion. On Wallapop because they were sold out everywhere, and apparently that means they must be comfortable for the feet.

So there I was, leaving the husband with the sandals and focusing on her.

I explained to her what many already know but few apply: the importance of wide, flat, flexible, non-reinforced shoes with just the right thickness of sole that you need.

Because sometimes even doctors don't tell you everything. They fix the problem, yes, but they don't tell you how to prevent it from coming back.

And she, with her 120 euros of foot pain, still didn't see it clearly. Until I showed her the white Nova G01s.

"Well, those are really cute, and they're similar to the ones I'm wearing, let's see..." -she says.

At first, she looked at them with some suspicion, like someone who tastes an exotic dish without having much faith. But when she put them on, her face changed.

Yes, they don't have those three little stripes, but they have everything you need for your feet to walk without cursing with every step.

To top it off, as she was suffering from Neuroma of Mordor, I added some Lems insoles to give her more protection and comfort, and she left happier than a pair of castanets.

The moral of this visit is clear: not all that glitters is gold, and following fashion blindly can be your worst enemy.

Indeed, we all want to look good and trendy, but your feet are not to blame for the trends.

So before you sacrifice your feet on the altar of fashion, check out the new Groundies.

The ones she took are the Groundies Nova G01, but the new Galaxy are one of those that always look good, no matter what you're wearing.

Because my friend, at the end of the day, what matters is how you feel,

That's the real fashion you should be following.

Health starts with your feet.

Antonio Caballo.

P.S. At ZaMi, we don't just sell shoes; we offer a change towards a lifestyle where your wellbeing and your health come first.

Keep in mind that what you wear on your feet says a lot about what your future will be like.

And remember, real fashion is not about following others, but about making your own way.