Walk A Mile in These

For some odd reason, shoes have been on my mind this morning. Which, as my stories will show, is actually a rare thing.

I'm no Imelda Marcos. I have four pairs of dress shoes, two brown and two black. One pair of nice tennis shoes. Some flip-flops and that's about it. Oh, and golf shoes.

The shoes I've been wearing this week are seven years old. When I moved to Dallas, I was still finishing college and I worked for an insurance agency in the file room. Very culturally enriching, let me tell you. Anyway, when I graduated and got my first interview, the girl I was dating took the day off so that we could spend it together doing something fun after the interview. We left for the day and I brought along the nice clothes to change into. After we ate lunch, I went to the car to get my change of clothes; to my horror, I had everything but the dress shoes. So, we made a quick stop to the mall and I bought the first decent pair I saw. Now, they are actually the most comfortable shoes I own and have kept up very well.

You'd think I would have learned my lesson, but of course not. Last year, Melissa and I traveled to Houston for a wedding. I packed my suits, dress shirts, ties, etc. in the hanging bag and put all my casual clothes and shoes in the overnight bag. About halfway through our journey, we pulled over for a snack and to fill up on gas. I felt a headache coming on so I went to the overnight bag to get some aspirin. But, the bag wasn't there. I had left it back at the apartment. The next morning, still wearing the same clothes, I went to the mall and bought a change of clothes and some new dress shoes. I think I'll hang on to these for a while.

I was also thinking about shoes late last week since I saw Shopgirl is coming out soon. I've read the book but don't remember much about it. I was disappointed because I had a pre-conceived notion that the book would be typical Steve Martin. I wasn't expecting mature. I was expecting something along the lines of The Cruel Shoes.

If you're not familiar with the story, please follow the link. You may not laugh at first, but you probably will with time. Rest assured, the next time you go buy a pair of shoes, it'll be tempting not to ask for the cruel shoes.

http://www.getasite.com/gj/cruelshoes.htm