By the end of yesterday i was under the impression that i was being paid thousands of dollars to walk up and down the hallway every five minutes in the most uncomfortable pair of shoes that i own.

That illusion was dispelled today, as i have received every indication that i will continue to receive compensation even though my footwear is significantly more comfortable.

It wasn’t as if i was being an unmitigated slave of beauty. I knew the shoes were uncomfortable for walking. I would never wear them to give a campus tour, or even to race through a train station. I was comfortable with my choice because i spend my days in the corporate world, where everyone is either an email or an elevator away.

Everyone, that is, with the exception of my manager, who is too busy to reply to the constant stream of email our department generates and on the same floor as me. This is because my cubicle is stationed in what i lovingly refer to as East Jibip (just south of Siberia, where Henna sits). This puts me roughly a quarter of a city block from my managers office, where i tend to wind up at least twice an hour (not counting times i stop by to find the door closed). Additionally, i am significantly father than i can throw a stapler away from both of the printers to which my computer is mapped.

It’s bad for my shiny Florsheim shoes, but it’s good exercise. In fact, it’s great exercise. By the end of the day yesterday i think i had completed over a mile’s worth of shuttle runs to my manager’s office and back. Today i easily logged half a mile of printer sprints.

Knowing me, you’d think i’d have a pedometer already.