shoes

an iraqi journalist threw his shoes at george w., and the whole world is talking about the symbolism of shoes in the middle east. fact is, shoes are dirty. fact is also, the journalist could have thrown his microphone or his mobile and the act would have been equally hostile and potentially harmful to the president's health. let's face it mr. president - shoes are not bombs! and no weapons of mass destruction, either.
but let's talk about the shoe symbol. throwing shoes at a person or a statue, or walking over a poster is to show your disapproval. so far, so obvious. apparently, us army tanks in baghdad have been showered in shoes since the incident.

a shoe seems a very awkward object to throw in public. i mean, am i supposed to throw the shoes i'm wearing? if so, what are the chances that i fail to retrieve my pair and have to go home barefoot or with someone else's footwear? risking that people sneer at me disrespectfully for being too poor to afford a (decent) pair of shoes? or do i always carry a disposable pair of *protest shoes* with me?

germans, by the way, seem to be rather close to the arabic thinking on shoes. we, too, take our shoes off when entering our or someone else's home. as opposed to english people, who leave their shoes on when they lie on the sofa. dear english fellow londoners, it's a disgusting thing to do. appalling! i also remember a discussion i had with my boss at quam in munich. our new shops were to be fitted with doormats bearing the quam logo. we decided against it as we did not want to see the symbolic *trampling all over the logo* by our customers. apparently, a huge code of arms decorates the oval office carpet, that every visitor has no choice but to walk over. in their dirty shoes. there is symbolism for you.