Boots are better than shoes for all kinds of reasons. They are more durable. They last longer. They protect your feet from potential dangers better than shoes. The list goes on and on. However, real-life anecdotes help drive the idea home better than just making a list. Here is a list of experiences that prove the point.

1) When you drop an 80-pound speaker on your foot, the steel-toed work boots you’re wearing protect your feet from being crushed. Meanwhile, your friend who only wore a pair of Converse All Stars now has a broken foot with gorgeous purple toenails.

2) While riding his scooter, his single brake cable breaks and he is forced to press his thick Vibram lug-soled work boots into the pavement to stop. In a similar incident, his girlfriend wears shoes while she drives her moped. Unable to make her machine stop because her shoes weren’t suited to the task at hand, she now sports a nice scar on her hip that marks the place where she became one with the asphalt. .

3) Being a short woman, under five feet, in a bar sucks. Wearing a good pair of women’s western boots can give you a solid two-inch lift and stability that a pair of stilettos don’t offer. Plus, when the drunk guy next to you tries to balance his beer on your head, you have the option of kicking him in the pack without fear of breaking his toe to which an open-toed shoe would be vulnerable.

4) Your friend falls off his skateboard and launches it at full speed towards you. He hits you in the ankle. You end up with just a little bruise because you have a nice pair of Lacrosse work boots that cover your ankle with thick leather. Good thing you didn’t wear tennis because you would probably have a broken ankle.

5) On a summer picnic with your girlfriend, you see what looks like a rounded pile of dog feces. Before he can react, the dark brown coiled object lunges at his feet and slams his head against his boot. I examine further and you find two small semi-punctures with scrap marks in the leather. Rattlesnakes can ruin picnics if you don’t watch where you’re walking and wear leather boots.

6) It rains about three inches in less than an hour in your neighborhood. The city’s drains begin to back up from the deluge and become clogged with debris. The streets are now inundated with two feet of standing water. Luckily you have a pair of Muck boots that you unfold keeping your feet dry and protected from floating debris in the water. You unclog the nearest drain, which prevents water from almost entering your house. Your neighbor wears a pair of Nike shoes and gets a nasty cut on the top of his foot from a submerged palm leaf. You advance painfully protected by thick rubber boots.

7) Try to recapture your youth and buy a pair of Converse All Star sneakers. These shoes go to great lengths to murder your feet. Pain permeates your body with every step you take. You use that you don’t remember them hurting like this when you were in high school. You buy a simple-looking pair of Tony Lama cowboy boots. You put them on and they become the most comfortable shoe you’ve ever owned. You don’t take them off for two years. Your girlfriend is worried. You get a new girlfriend and give the Salvation Army All Stars. Boots Rule!

No matter if your experience is out of the ordinary or not, boots do a better job of keeping your feet in good health. Do not complicate yourself with footwear and keep on your feet and walk with good boots.