My closet is filling up with decrepit shoes.  It seems ethically questionable to throw out shoes if they'll still keep out the wet on a rainy day, but how often do you really want to wear shoes that are that near to meeting the throw-out test?  They tend to have lost all arch support by then, for one thing, and they usually don't look too good.  And if you buy new shoes to replace them when they go, you naturally throw the new ones into the front of the closet, which makes it that much less likely that you'll notice and remember to wear the bad ones at the back.

I can see no solution to this problem, but I do feel a little more hopeful about another trouble of mine, the distance between my shoe storage and the door.  If the closet really does completely fill up with shoes they will have to overflow into the main room, and in the course of time it should become convenient, sitting by the door, to stretch out my hand for a pair of shoes, put them on, and step outside.

I may have to rethink my disbelief in the idea of progress.