On Sunday, before a small but curious audience, Sharon Olsick took off her shoes and socks.
Then she climbed a small platform and struck a pose.
She had become a spur-of-the-moment contestant in a national “Foot Model Search.”
A young man with a fancy camera moved in for a close-up. Of her feet.
People were staring intently at them. They were now completely . . . bare. Her feet, not the people.
You could tell by the expressions on their faces that they liked what they saw.
This was predictable. Not to be presumptuous or overly forward, but Olsick, 36, had a very attractive pair.
They were free of blemishes, they were well-shaped, they appeared firm and strong, yet one got the idea that they would be soft to the touch. The toenails were clipped at a proper length and seemed healthy and well cared for.
And the toenail polish — a shade of shocking pink called April’s Fool — was spectacular.
Yet if the onlookers were impressed, they also were restrained. No one applauded; none of the young men whistled or leered or stomped their feet, as some tend to do upon seeing displays of certain other parts of the female body. In fact, no one said anything.
This probably says something about how we think about our feet.
The professionals who care for them say we are generally terrible to our feet.
Our feet carry us 115,000 miles in our lifetimes, almost five trips around the Earth, and we abuse them, we neglect them, we don’t seek treatment when they’re hurting and we often act as though we’re ashamed of them, keeping them hidden away under layers of wool and cotton and leather and canvas.
One could certainly see signs of this sort of negligent attitude at the event at which Olsick posed.
The occasion was a combination street festival/sports competition that was held on North LaSalle Street near the River North area and was sponsored by Michael Jordan’s Restaurant.
The day started with a 1-mile run, a 5K run and a 5K walk that began and ended at the restaurant, and the rest of the morning and afternoon was devoted to a 2-on-2 basketball tourney on 10 half-courts and a 3-point shooting contest.
In addition to the sports activities, numerous white tents in the two-block area sold food and pushed products.
And the tent where the Foot Model Search was held could not have had a worse location. It was tucked away at the farthest end of the Hubbard Street layout. Indeed, the site was the equivalent of being seated next to the kitchen when dining out.
Olsick, however, was oblivious to any slight, and optimistic about her chances.
The winner of the contest, which is a promotion of Dr. Scholl’s foot-care products, will be chosen later this year from hundreds of entrants in 37 cities.
He or she will get a free trip to New York and, among other things, a professional photography session. Of his or her feet, of course.
As she laced up her sneakers, Olsick revealed to a reporter that she and her husband had perhaps discovered an entirely new area for domestic conflict or a new type of foot problem.
“My husband and I argue about my feet,” she confided. “I say they’re perfect. He doesn’t think so.”
One couldn’t help thinking that her husband didn’t sound particularly brilliant by making an issue of his wife’s feet.
“And I know feet,” Olsick continued. “I’m a nail technician. I give manicures and pedicures out of my home in Lemont. And I’ve seen a lot of feet, believe me.”
Sure enough, just as the foot-care professionals say, she’s found that some women are embarrassed about their feet. “They’ll say, `I’ve got the worst feet.’ “
Meanwhile, another contestant uncovered his feet and climbed onto the platform for his pose. He seemed not at all embarrassed about his feet, which, to be brutally honest, were not at all lovely.
“Should I smile?” said Lynne Hans, 56, of Winnetka.
Zooming in on Hans’ feet, the photographer said he could forget the smile.
Hans explained to a reporter that he’s a marathoner. He’s run in 83 of them, which may explain his feet, which looked quite used.
By the way, that red bump on the second toe of the left foot isn’t going to look good in a color photograph, is it?
“Yeah, I know,” Hans replied. “My second toe is larger on my left foot. It sticks up and gets irritated.”
But like a lot of serious runners, Hans respects his feet. “I get a pedicure every month, and I wear the most comfortable shoes I can find when I’m not running. They’re wingtips, but I make sure they fit.”
This kind of commitment pleases Dr. Barnett Fung, a North Side podiatrist who’s a graduate of the Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago and stationed at the Scholl’s tent to examine and counsel people who stopped by with foot woes.
“Most of what I’m seeing are structural problems, such as bunions,” he said. “The second most common problem is athlete’s foot.”
A runner’s shoe is heaven for athlete’s foot fungus. For that matter, all shoes are. This fungus likes places that are dark and warm and moist — the definition of the inside of a shoe that has a foot in it.
In response to a request, Fung graciously offered a podiatrist’s lament:
“When we have foot pain, we wait and hope it goes away. You have a chest pain, you call a doctor.
“Our feet are like a foundation for the body. When the foundation is shaky, the rest of the body breaks down.
“When we get a bad cold, we may stay home from work. When we get foot pain, we decide we’ll walk it off.”
After gazing at dozens of strangers’ feet, one could almost feel like something of a connoisseur.
Scott Smith, 22, of Naperville, for example, may be a contender in the contest. Very strong feet. The veins in them had the appearance of subcutaneous ropes. The nails were evenly cut and wonderfully groomed.
“I’m a runner,” he said. “I take care of them. I use a pumice stone to take off the old skin.”
And, he modestly added, “Once I was asked to be a leg model by Wal-Mart, but I didn’t do it.”
His friend, Ryann Hubbard, chortled disrespectfully. At 16, she was two years too young to enter the contest.
Youthful feet, one assumes, have too many advantages, like cars that just came out of the showroom. Older feet wouldn’t stand a chance.
Not that bad things can’t happen to young feet. “I used to have warts,” Hubbard confessed. “And I would file them down and put acid on them.”
A happy ending. “And now they’re gone. I know I would have won this contest. I have gold toenails today.”
Gloria Popovich of Hinsdale unveiled feet that were 27 years older than Hubbard’s.
“These are not young feet, but I take care of them,” she said. “If I’d known about this contest, I’d have gotten a pedicure. But I’m not confident. I have sandal lines, and a little callus on one foot. From high heels.”
Ah, high heels. Dr. Michael Wessels of Dixon, president-elect of the Illinois Podiatric Medical Association, said they’re a cinch to cause foot problems.
A lot comes down to the shoes you wear. “Look at your foot,” Wessels said. “It’s more of a rectangle than a triangle. Shoes are more like triangles. When you shove a rectangle into a triangle, something’s got to give.”
Take us home, doc.
“It helps to follow some rules: Never buy shoes in the morning. That’s when your feet are at their smallest. The shoe may be too tight. No two feet are the same size. Buy shoes for the larger foot.
“Wiggle the toes in the shoes. If you can’t, they’re probably too small. Try on shoes with socks you’ll wear with them. Don’t rely on shoes to stretch; there’s no break-in for shoes. Make sure there’s a thumb’s width between the tip of the shoe and your longest toe, which is sometimes the second.”
