Small Town Newspapers

I really love reading the letters to the editor in our newspapers here in the UP. Many, many, many letters are fire and brimstone religious rants (I am very religious/spiritual, but some of these letters are VERY whacko), a lot are crazy political speeches, and then there are the ones that make no sense whatsoever. I think this one qualifies as a 'WTF' kind of letter.

"As a female who often wears stiletto shoes when I go out and knowing that most females do not know the benefits of wearing stilettos, I feel that education on this subject would benefit the female community in Houghton. Below is an excerpt taken from a research paper that I recently completed.

Despite popular belief, stilettos are more then merely a fashion accessory. The health benefits of wearing stilettos cover everything from tension relief in quadriceps to increased speed and vertical leap. If you take the number of calories that one burns while standing and walking and add the extra muscle tension from wearing heels, you may not necessarily burn more calories but you are working more muscles with an increased strain and thus more effectively toning your body.

Taking a few tips from athletic training techniques, staying up on ones toes while running, jumping and exercising has been proven to increase speed, reduce the effects of shin-splints and increase vertical leap. With that in mind, wouldn't walking to a party or out on a date in heels have the same effects on the muscle groups being used? It certainly does.

High heels also force the wearer to stand up straighter, thus improving posture and strengthening the back muscles. Another benefit to wearing heels is the "tucking" of the tummy that results from elongating the upper body due to improved posture. This strengthens the abdominal muscles and gives a leaner mid-section.

The ankles are another area of the body that benefits from wearing stilettos while moving about. The forced tension in the ankles that is caused by walking on such a small surface area, the tip of the heel and ball of the foot, increases ankle strength and actually can help in the prevention of ankle injuries while not wearing the heels i.e. playing a sport or working out.

The overall point of describing how stilettos increase muscle tone/strength and burn calories is to say that your overall health is affected by the health of your muscles and the cardiovascular exercise that you are getting; the more cardio that one performs on a daily basis, the healthier their heart, lungs and internal systems are."

I don't know, but this really confuses me. Why would someone send this to the Letters To The Editor column?