A Post about Shoes

Well.

Today I had to go to a meeting that I didn’t want to go to. . .and even though I had to make lesson plans and even though most of the meeting was exceedingly boring and stuff I’d heard before, I didn’t have to be there until 8:00 (I was 10 minutes late), and I didn’t have to teach it. I DID get to eat lunch at Chik Fil A (chicken sandwich, coleslaw, diet coke–my only one of the day, thank you very much), AND I had time to go to Academy to buy some new walking shoes before I went to get Victoria from school.

It took me a bit to find what I wanted. I used to buy Asics long ago. . .but they are VERY expensive. So last time I got some Reeboks and they were GREAT. I found a pair of wonderful Reebok running shoes–mostly silvery gray with touches of PASTEL pink–just the perfect shade of pink–and when I put them on, I knew RIGHT AWAY that they were the shoe for me. . .Momma and I don’t even had to WALK in a shoe to know if it’s right or not. It was like my feet had found a home. And they were soooooooooo cute and JUST RIGHT for me. . .and here’s a picture–though the internet didn’t do them justice. They are super cute in person. . .

And I should have walked straight out of the store right that second (after paying for the shoes AND the socks I had picked off the rack) but I put on a pair of Asics that were the same price just ’cause that is ALL I wore for YEARS. And, alas oh best beloveds, my feet had found a home resplendent with a massuer, Spearmint Eucalyptus aromatherapy, James Taylor holding a private acoustic concert JUST FOR ME, and PERFECT iced tea,

but really, really, LOUD red decor. . .see below.

Now, I know that the red ones look much “splashier” on this screen than the understated silver and pink. . .but what you can’t see from the picture is that the ENTIRE lining of the shoe is red. . .red, red, RED–red as though someone had a horrible accident and used the shoe to stauch the flow of blood until they got to the hospital. . . all inside the shoes. . .and not a deep cranberry red–a sort of cheap lipstick red. . .and they are just very, very. . .red. I am sure it is the HOT shoe color this year like chartruese and orange but they are just. . .just. No.

Of course I KNEW from the moment I put my foot into them that they would leave the store with me. . .but I kept switching back and forth and back and forth and put a silver shoe on one foot and a horrendous red shoe on the other. Then I walked on the carpeted section, then the laminate wood section, then the tile section. . .and I kept reminding myself that I was buying for COMFORT NOT CUTENESS.

I finally sighed my sigh, put them on my feet, stuck my black flats in the empty box and was on my merry way.

Now the wonderful ending to this story, aside from the fact that I have some really rockin’ comfortable, albeit bleeding shoes, is that I called my Momma to tell her about a wonderful bargain I had found even though she doesn’t have the same store 8 hours away where she lives–’cause this is the south, and that’s what we do here. And then I told her my shoe story–again–south–what we do–and my wonderfully sweet Momma said,

“Well, Roxanne. You and I both know that finding comfortable shoes is NOT an easy thing to do. And if you wear one pair at school all day long on spirit day, they aren’t going to feel good to walk in when you get home. So you just go right back tomorrow and buy that other pair on me.”

‘Cause that is what southern Mommas do too. At least that’s what MY southern Momma does. . .and what my Granny did for her. . .and what I will do for Victoria in turn. It gets passed down like the lemon cake recipe don’t ya know. Which I will also be happy to give to you–the recipe, not the shoes.

ALSO–if you like yourself a cushy, snug sock for walking, might I suggest Converse Performance Comfort Style women’s low cut socks WITH arch support. . .words cannot describe. . .very, very comfy. They come in a pack of three, and if you have an Academy nearby, well you can get a pack for $6.99–which is on the high end of socks for me, but worth every single penny. (They made my sojourn in WalMart MUCH more endurable.)

They and the hemorraghing shoes walked out of the store attached to my feet.

And that’s all I have to say about that.