What's the deal with shoes? They're like clothes for your feet.

Just sitting at work...trying not to go out of my mind in boredom. It's not working well. When I get bored, I get irritated easily. Another reason could be that today is the day that I started our taxes. So I am sitting here and an awful scent hits my nose...I look down, I am sitting on my feet. The smell is coming from my shoes. I know what you're thinking, and no, didn't step in anything. I got a pair of DC shoes for Christmas 2006. (Thanks Kel!). They have this pretty faint rubber smell, and it has not faded since the day I got them. I remember the smell specifically when I got the shoes. I remember convincing myself that the smell would fade along with that new shoe smell. Here it is a little over a year later, and it still bugs me. I don't really know why, my shoes before these were DC brand and I freaking loved them.
This occurrence has caused me to ponder on a few questions. Did they start using different rubber in the 13 months between my shoe purchases? Did some CEO or design team somewhere decide that he could save a few bucks by using a rubber that had a little annoying smell that would disturb guys with great noses(like myself), and dogs across the planet? Another idea would be that this CEO or design team chose this rubber because it is very durable. They may have even spent more money on this rubber than the stuff that doesn't smell. I just looked at the bottom of my shoe, and the painted graphic have not worn out at all, I still have full tread, and they show signs of very little wear....this is after over a year of wearing them on a regular basis. Okay, I am sure that everyone who reads this knows that DC is a skate brand(I am also sure that everyone who reads this knows that I have never skated a day in my life...poser), and granted skaters are probably pretty hard on shoes, but how tough do these things have to be. Now I am going to have to throw them out, not because they will have worn out, but because they will be decades past being in style.
This DC rubber problem has caused me to vex greatly, and I will soon be calling the company to see what really happened with the beautiful, weak, non-smelly rubber....my voice will be heard.