I need some of those shoes!

Around here (Albuquerque) they use what amounts to ground up tennis shoe soles as the ...um... underlayer for those faux lawn things like RealTurff and such. Supposedly works well as a drainfield. Or something.

I didn't realize the sneak was popular enough to warrant counterfeits.

Cool. Can I get a recycle bin for that?

Indeed. And at DaughterofV's school, the track in the student gym is made of this made of this material, too. whe describing the track, our tour guide explained that the direction of traffic was reversed each day, to even out the wear. Clockwise, counterclockwise, clockwise, rinse repeat.

wipe on, wipe off

I heard that. In fact, I heard they give them a stern look before offering to surrender. Very tough indeed.

First off, you will never see "counterfeit" sneakers donated to anyone. Why? Because those that they are counterfeiting aren't making a profit, tax write-off or any other "incentive" for them to want to donate them. Additionally, if they are donated, then that will drive down their $150/pair prices (heaven forbid). :rolleyes:

Furthermore, this also show how materialistic we are. Here we have a shoe that is probably no different than the "real" thing, yet they are being destroyed because they weren't made by some 8 year old kid in a Nike factory, but were made by an 8 year old kid in some other factory. With all those shoes, they could probably put several pairs on every kid that works in their factories.

I think you're right.
Welcome to the Cellar, elderban. :D