I love both artichokes and eggplants. In fact, I had eggplant fatteh at a Lebanese restaurant today. The only eggplant I cook myself are the tiny fairy tale eggplants or the skinny Japanese eggplant, because they require no preparation and cook quickly. I let other people make eggplant parmesan, because it’s a lot of work.
I use Ice-Trekkers, similar to Yaktrax but flat chains instead of coils. Easier to walk on and don’t catch on rugs when you get inside. I haven’t tried walking on tiles with them, but they do OK on wood floors (though I take them off quickly to not damage the wood).
My first reaction as well.