Homecoming season, for the most part, has come and gone, but some students are still left with bruises and scrapes from men’s shoes during the homecoming dance. 

Girls show up to the dance, and the first thing they do is take their sky high heels off to go dance, leaving them vulnerable to the many guys still wearing their shoes. When dancing, it was not uncommon to see girls one by one wince in pain as their toes were stomped on, leaving behind broken and some bent toe nails. Abby Wagner, ‘20, reports, “I couldn’t walk on my toe for a week, it hurt so bad.”

Ava Anderson, ‘22, had a similar experience. “I got the back of my heel jumped on. It wouldn’t hurt as bad if the guys didn’t have hard heels on their shoes, so I would prefer that they are recommended to take them off.” 

So why shouldn’t the guys be asked to take off their shoes? Anderson thought, “I mean, the floors get really dirty, so their socks might get dirty, but also, the floors probably get dirty because of their shoes.”

Zach Noonan, ‘21, sympathized. “I would be mad if I got stepped on by these shoes, so I think it would be a good idea to make it a norm that we take our shoes off during the dance.” He remembers stepping on people once or twice and feeling really bad, but because everyone is so close together, it’s hard to avoid it. 

“I was personally able to pay enough attention that I didn’t step on anyone’s feet. Guys should just be alert, and if they do step on someone’s feet, apologize,” suggests Joel Tranel, ‘21. 

It may be that recommending guys take off shoes during the dance could save some girls bruised feet.