Jika-tabi shoes in some industries, many workers prefer them for the softness of their soles. This gives wearers tactile contact with the ground, and the concomitant gripping ability lets them use their feet more agilely than rigid-soled shoes allow. This is useful for workers who traverse girders on construction sites and need to be sure what is under their feet. Carpenters and gardeners wearing these boots can, if they wish, use their feet as an extra pair of hands, for example to hold objects in place. There is also a line of knee-high all-rubber jika-tabi that is used by workers in
A Worn Path A Worn Path "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty is a short story about an elderly African-American woman who undertakes a familiar journey on a road in a rural area to acquire medicine for her grandson. She expresses herself, both to her surroundings and in short spurts of spoken monologue, warning away animals and expressing the pain she feels in her weary bones. This shows that "A Worn Path" is a tale of undying love and devotion that pushes us toward a goal. In "A Worn Path", an old woman named Phoenix Jackson is walking through the woods into town.