May 18th, 2009
#765 – Anconeus
When I first learned to tie my shoes I was taught the simple “bunny ear” method. Apparently this is what little kids are taught until they get older and learn the “real” way grownups tie their shoes. I was told that it’s some nonsense where you make a single loop and then wrap the second lace around it and then do a back flip while clapping your hands and land doing the splits. I may have gotten some of those moves out of order because I somehow never heard of this “adult” version until I was in college. “Haha! That’s so cute that you still tie your shoes like a little kid!” My life drawing professor was kind of a jerk that way.
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May 18th, 2009 at 12:02 am
I’m not sure that would work for shoe-tying, and I don’t think I’d regret it.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Those extra fingers would slow you down. I don’t tie my shoes anymore anyways. I follow the “Slip-on/off” school of thought: Tie them once and slip them on and off without ever adjusting the laces again.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Reminds me of the 4-armed Spiderman from the comics and old mid 90s cartoon.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Ahh, but it would be faster… two hands for each shoe, simultaneously.
Some people might treat him… a little differently if he ever visits India like that.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:28 am
There are a multitude of ways to tie your shoes – more than just those two anyway. You can change things from the knot itself, to the crossing pattern of the laces over the tongue of the shoe. People think it’s weird the way I lace my shoes. I do everything the “normal” way, except I seem to do something different the way I lace through the holes. I think I use more of them or something…
May 18th, 2009 at 12:36 am
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say, Wishes gone bad week
May 18th, 2009 at 12:38 am
I first learned how to tie my shoes the “grown-up” way, but I learned to do it by mirroring my parents, so even though I’m right-handed I apparently tie my shoes like a leftie. My dad always jokes that this would be a red herring for Columbo.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:40 am
Did you know there’s a website for how to tie your shoes? http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/index.htm
May 18th, 2009 at 1:06 am
Superpower week?
May 18th, 2009 at 1:11 am
I’ve only ever heard of one way of tying my shoes. Without actually seeing what they each are I’m going to guess that it’s the “adult” version though.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:26 am
Biff becomes Shiva, destroyer of shoes…
May 18th, 2009 at 4:26 am
I still only know of 1 way to tie my shoe o_o
May 18th, 2009 at 4:41 am
I’d wish *I* had four Arms. Life would be a lot easier…
May 18th, 2009 at 5:30 am
Maybe this is a shameful thing to talk about, but I have something to confess. I’m twenty-four and I still tie my shoes the “little kid” way.
When I was taught how to tie my shoes they tried to teach me the “adult” method shortly after, but I just kept using the first way. I never understood, and this still stands to this day, why it’s necessary to learn a new type of knot when the one I already know does the task just as well. What exactly makes the first way only for little kids? Is it the simplicity of it? Because I don’t see how that’s a problem, learning a more complex knot just seems to needlessly complicate things. The only reason I can think of is some kind of misplaced sense of tradition, as if somewhere down the line a cobbler somewhere discovered an easier to learn way to tie shoes and was so embarassed by how simple it was he only taught it to his kids who couldn’t figure out the other way at first, and this method has been carried down through the generations or something.
Well tradition can take a hike, I say! I’m not planning in to those conformist complex shoe knot tying ways! Fight the power!
May 18th, 2009 at 7:30 am
I always tied my shoes the adult way. I’ve found that bunny-ears stays tied longer though.
May 18th, 2009 at 7:32 am
@ Chris – I still use bunny ears, too! I thought I was the only one.
May 18th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Theres an adult version?
Didnt Chris already do Misplaced Wishes Week? Maybe a good week deserves encores.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Kind of a jerk? A jerk.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Spider-Biff,
Spider-Biff,
Does whatever a Spider-Biff does…
May 18th, 2009 at 8:13 am
“Be careful what you wish for.” – Elder precursor, Jak 3.
Sorry, just had to make that joke. And I quess: things you shouldn’t wish for – week. =9
May 18th, 2009 at 8:38 am
How does he wear deodarent now?
May 18th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Evil Genie week! Be careful what you say. He’s listening.
May 18th, 2009 at 9:26 am
What’s this adult way? I just do 1/2 knot, then hold one lace in a loop while wrapping the other lace around it and feeding it through the wrap to make a loop as well. then I tie the two loops together to prevent them from coming undone.
May 18th, 2009 at 9:29 am
hrrm google reveals this. http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/knots.htm 17 different ways to tie your shoe laces
May 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
My unnecessary lot of theme guesses:
- Wish week (or some permutation)
- Regret Week
- extra Body parts week
- shoe week
- Double week
- body week
- Speed week
- Things in the past week
- Super hero week
- Destroyed clothes week
- Everyday activates week
okay thats enough guesses for today
May 18th, 2009 at 11:48 am
How could you regret having four arms? Oh, the possibilities…
May 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I tied my shoes the “little kid” way until high school. My friends didn’t believe me that I couldn’t tie them the “adult” way until they saw me actually tie them and have to concentrate on how to do it. Now I proscribe to the slip-on method.
May 18th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Lisa, that is the grownup way. The bunny-ears way is (I think) to make separate loops (”bunny ears”) and then tie them together in a simple granny knot. I always found that difficult and cumbersome.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Oh yeah, also, my mom taught me to use the “lock lacing” method (at the very bottom of the lacing methods page). I find it makes for a nice balance between lace length and stability. Which reminds me, I got a new pair of shoes a month ago and still haven’t gotten around to relacing them with a lock lace. Which is odd since that’s usually the very first thing I do when I get new shoes.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Yes…I’ve had wishes gone bad. I wanted to buy something for myself and my father bought me something I was looking for but ended up spending the money.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Lol. These are great!
May 18th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I used velcro shoes for my early years, but eventually learned what I guess is the adult way. I never knew there was any other method.
May 18th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
watch what you wish for week.
May 18th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Poor Biff xD
I’m a newer reader, Read all 700 or so comics over the weekend .-.
I refuse to tie my own shoes. I tie them once, And keep slipping them on. Or, I just get a friend to tie them. It seems whenever I try to tie them, It becomes a bad knot and never gets undone xD
May 18th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
I still tie my shoes like that, too. My parents tried to teach me the other way because they kept coming untied, but I just double knotted them instead.
May 18th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
The fast way is how I learned to tie my shoes. I got in trouble for it in kindergarten because we were forced to learn the commie awkward double ear method, and I didn’t want to. Ω
May 18th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
No one taught me to tie my shoes. In fact, I only ever learned this infamous ‘double-knot’ technique in first grade, when I had stopped to tie my shoes for the umpteenth time that day when my teacher said ‘Oh for god’s sake’ and seized my feet by the laces. I was so mortified that I practiced tying my shoes several times that night.
May 18th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
The little kid way? I’ve never learned the other way and I’m 19 XD
May 18th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I don’t even wear shoes anymore. In Summer I wear sandals or go barefoot. In Winter I wear (depending on how cold it is) these or boots.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Svenman, you are now responsible for taking up a good half hour of my time, and a slot on my bookmarks list.
*shakes fist*
Curse you!
May 18th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Hahaha…I just found this webcomic today….you advertised with Punch an’ Pie….and I’ve gone to the beginning and have begun to read through it. I like it!
Tie my shoes….tie my shoes. I don’t remember learning how….but I remember how frustrated I was teaching my little brother.
May 18th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Oh yes….I showed this to a friend of mine and we were both laughing over it. I said, “You remember those Highlights characters Goofus and Gallant? Meet the third brother, Biff.”
She is greatly enjoying the strip, as well.
May 18th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Yes, another mid-twenties person who has always and forever tied her shoes the “kid’s” way. Bunny-ears are fast, yo. There’s no need for any other method.
May 18th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
I didn’t know there was more than one way of tying shoes. Now I wonder if I’m tying my shoes like a child. That page Svenman mentioned was useful in finding a more secure knot. I have the irrational fear of tripping over loose shoelaces.
As for 4 arms, that can be handy(no pun intended, nor wanted). I wouldn’t want to have a character with 4 arms, though. I have enough trouble deciding what to do with 2 arms in a comic that I’ve considered having an armless character. In fact, I HAVE cut off a character’s right arm once just because it got in the way(nowhere on my site, though).
May 19th, 2009 at 7:14 am
I had an evil kindergarten teacher who would yell at me when I colored outside the lines who kept me in class either after school or during recess to “teach” me how to tie my shoes. She stood there and berated me while I sat there in tears, having no clue how to do the magical loops to tie my shoes in what I guess is the ‘adult’ way. I ended up getting one, but I had no clue how I did it.
I never got to learn the easy way. When I saw the easy way on the TV 2 years later, I was a bit miffed that there was a way to tie shoes that was less mentaly scarring.
May 19th, 2009 at 7:19 am
This comic is awesome, I’ve read through the archives but never got around to posting.
I know of a couple of ways to tie my shoes, though never really encountered any hostility to tying my shoes a certain way. I think at the moment the shoes that I wear have two “slip on” styles because I don’t really prefer one style over another.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:29 am
v.v no one ever bothered to teach me the real way.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Honestly, I never figured out the supposed ‘adult’ way of shoe-tying until I was 16. I’m 23 now and still don’t use it. Bunny ears go so much faster and wrapping both loops around creates a nice double knot.
But really, shoes can burn. If I could, I’d go barefoot everywhere. Unfortunately Canadian winters don’t allow that.
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Oops, I meant to post that on today’s.
May 27th, 2009 at 1:13 am
i actually learned when my dad let me in on the secret that it was almost the exact same thing as tying the strings the back my dress; just revolved to my feet.
i had been tying my dresses since i was in 1st, i didn’t learn to tye my shoes till 3rd.
P.S. i’ve been reading for the longest time, and am a huge fan. this is my first time commenting. :]
June 13th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I could never figure out the “bunny ear loop” thing for tying shoes, until my grandfather told me I could just knot two loops together. I still don’t understand why people think everything for kids has to be made unnecessarily complicated so it’s “cutesy”.
June 15th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I admit that I never got the bunny ears way. Dx That story just never clicked with me.
So I’ve always tied it the ‘adult’ way.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:31 pm
He looks like General Grievous.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
There’s an adult way? I have to tie my shoes, one can’t tie boots only once, unless one plans on leaving them on their feet forever. Imagine the boot feet from that! <- I only own bots, no shoes. And one pair of Mandles.
December 28th, 2009 at 9:05 am
You Americans confuse me, in England there’s only one way to tie your shoes. This is why all that “bunny rabbit” “around the tree” stuff in films always lose me, we do it differently. I’m currently, I guess not so much now; I was under the impression that there’s only one way to tie your shoes? Just you had the choice between doing one knot or double-knotting it. Hm…
January 29th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Thats just stupid as hell…