If you're assuming this is just going to be a judgemental rant about how awful this poor fellow looked, you're not only wrong but I take umbrage at the fact that you'd think so little of me as to assume I'd spend my valuable [ok, not really] time slagging people off for no reason.
Anyway, this guy was wearing those Vibram shoes with individual toe compartments (see picture). He was fat and he had bad teeth. "Why is this a mystery?" you might ask, to which I would respond that the answer to that question is the entire point here and you really should have figured that out by now. I expect better from you.
The argument I've heard in favor of wearing these shoes is something along the lines of:
"Cavemen never wore shoes. Humans only started wearing shoes in recent times and in an evolutionary sense we don't actually have a need for arch support or raised heels; we only have them because we're accustomed to them. The 'toe box' design of shoes defeats the purpose of having toes in the first place and while we--the wearers of these shoes--grant that some protection from sharp ground hazards is nice, it is inherently healthier to wear the minimum amount of footwear."
Basically it's the Paleo Diet except stupid and for your feet.
The mystery then reveals itself in the paradoxical fact that this person is wearing these shoes "because they're healthier" while ignoring their dental health and their unchecked horizontal expansion.
Since the mystery of this rests upon the fact that "because they're healthier" is the only possible reason to wear these abominations, let's run through the other possibilities.
Maybe they're really comfortable.
Right, fair enough. I've never worn them.
Fat people really like comfortable stuff, so if they are in fact supremely comfy it all makes sense and destroys the entire purpose of writing this. So to avoid futility (and because they sure as hell don't look comfortable), on we go assuming they're not.
But what if he was just wearing them because they're cheap?
They're not. A cursory glance on the interwebs shows them going for around $60. You can get Grandpa Shoes from Wal-Mart for like $10 and they're plenty comfy until they inevitably fall apart.
Maybe it's a fashion statement.
They're fucking hideous. Second only to Crocs in ugliness.
You are correct. This is a most baffling mystery and I thank you for bringing it to my attention.
You're welcome.
