Flip Flops of Death? Seriously?

First "news" story to pop up on my homepage today: "Can Flip-Flops Make You Sick?". Just....why? Don't we have enough to worry and stress about these days without obsessing over how much bacteria our footwear is harboring? Yes, I read the article. If you're interested in learning more about flip-flop bacteria, be my guest. Basically, the article says that our flip-flops harbor lots of bacteria, including some potentially deadly strep strains, and that people touch flip-flops more than other types of shoes because they are, well, floppier, so they need to be adjusted more often. Whatever. I, for one, have mastered the art of the "flip-flop toe grip," so I don't find myself adjusting my flip-flops any more often than regular shoes. Sadly, the article reference the "University of Miami emergency mobile flip-flop lab" as a source of some of the information. I seriously, seriously hope that name is a joke--I'm assuming it is--but regardless, I'm sad that our fine U of M has been out there testing flip-flop bacteria!

And to wrap up my rant, I find it annoying that this story lists all sorts of scary info about flip-flops but does not offer a comparison to close-toed shoes. One of the most valuable lessons I learned as a journalism major was: Do not trust the numbers in the news. Point being--people tend to trust statistics they read or hear in the news, assuming that "numbers don't lie." But actually, it is so easy to manipulate numbers, skew studies, pick and choose what to highlight, and omit important details in order to make a desired point. Like, for instance, stating that there are over 18,000 bacteria on a pair of flip-flops without offering a comparison to amount of bacteria on closed shoes, or on feet without shoes, or other daily-use items. OK. Enough about the flip-flops. I'm letting it go....

Photo credit: stempl01/sxc.hu