Highs and Heels

Two stories in The Washington Post yesterday really grabbed my attention. One was about the growing popularity of pot use and the other was about women’s footwear as an economic barometer.

The popularity of marijuana in the DC metro area goes way beyond medical use. According to this story by Paul Schwartzman and Annys Shin, “Washingtonians' fondness for weed is among the strongest in the country -- and growing.”

“The popular image of the nation's capital leans toward the straight and narrow, a town of over-achieving, button-down bureaucrats, lawyers and lobbyists. But meander through any neighborhood from Congress Heights to Friendship Heights, and Washingtonians across race and class lines can be found lighting up.”

Meanwhile as the economy reached new lows women in the nation’s capital are taking to higher heels. According to this column by Petula Dvorak “nearly every McShoe store in America has its iteration of four-, five- or even six-inch heels.”

“As the Dow drops, the heel rises. The Great Depression had its high-heel backlash against the flapper's dancing shoes; the 1970s oil crisis had the return of the platform. But if heel heights are a leading economic indicator, we have a long way to go toward a recovery.”

On the other hand, if you happen to be a podiatrist, times couldn’t be better

“During the first heat wave of the spring, podiatrist Howard Osterman looked down at the shoes around him as he rode the Metro Red Line into work and knew that his practice was going to have a very good year.

Sky-high espadrilles. Platforms. Stilettos. Wedges. A podiatrist, standing in his sensible, orthopedic shoes, in a forest of gazelles. "

Talk about the agony of defeet!