I find it quite annoying when the bottoms of my shoes acquire stickiness. It can happen from picking up sidewalk gum, or if I pass under plum trees that have dropped their fruit (my brother Steve refers to those plants as prunus obnoxious).

I become aware of it when I walk from the carpeting to the tile-floored bathroom in the office, in a restaurant, on the sidewalk. Even after removal of any visible sticky object, the sole of the shoe continues to make a little sucking noise whenever it leaves the ground.

All of which reminds me:

When I was 21ish, shortly after completing college, I visited Israel with two girlfriends and landed for several months on a kibbutz. It was a poor place in a desolate area (we chose it for its political party, because we wanted to check out Socialism). The quarters for us volunteers were uninsulated wooden barracks with a cold water sink, outside, at the end of each row of six rooms. The accommodations felt slightly sturdier than cardboard. Rooms were warmed with open portable kerosene heaters.

The fuel tank was down the hill on the way to the showers and kitchen. Of course there were always puddles of kerosene on the paths near it.

This was 1971-72. One of the most popular shoe brands then were called Wallabees. They were desert-boot style tie shoes, sand-colored suede atop gum soles.

Let me tell you: if you want to permanently ruin a gum sole, just step in some kerosene. The fuel immediately seals the pores of the gum so it becomes a stiff, slick, ungiving plane beneath your feet.