Wednesday, September 28, 2005

The Shoe Store Enigma

I have a lot of shoes. Oh, I only wear a few pairs, but I have a lot of shoes that I never wear because of one word....pain.

I don't go out looking for painful shoes. I try on many pairs in the store, attempting to find the balance between style and comfort. But yet, I never succeed in the comfort part. It is because of this that I have come up with a theory about shoe stores - they have a magic spell that makes shoes feel comfortable so you will be tricked into buying them and keep coming back for more when their true colors come out. A women could put on a pair of black dress shoes inside a shoe store, walk around for an hour, and buy them completely convinced that all the problems of pinched toes and blisters were a thing of the past. But the moment that you walk out of the store, the magic shield lifts. You can put on those same super-comfortable shoes 10 min after buying them, and all of a sudden, someone has driven a spike into the toe and attached a razor blade to the edge to take all the skin off the foot. So after a few times of wearing them, you realize that the pain is unbearable and head back to the shoe store to start the horrible process again. This is why I have a collection of uncomfortable business-appropriate shoes in my closet, and added one more pair yesterday. We'll see how long these ones last.

7 comments:

Lindsey said...

So true.

karen b said...

shoe stores need to let us borrow the shoes and wear them for 8-10 hours so we can see how they really feel during a normal day. but since they don't do that, i usually only buy shoes that cost less than $15 (hooray for payless and target!). that way, i don't feel bad about tossing them if they hurt.

Wezie said...

Welcome to my world! I have at least 30 pairs of shoes - I wear the same pair every day. I'll put a pair on with grand intentions of wearing them the whole day, but after walking back and forth though my house a few times, I kick them off and don the comfortable-but-not-very-stylish pair....Oh well! At least I'm pain-free for the day!

Jenn said...

mckenna went into the garage the other day and took out a pair of shoes that don't fit her anymore that i had put in a box to give away...and wore them to school! i was sleeping, because i worked the night before and ira did not know the difference. she did this because they matched her outfit...
yes, beauty can be painful! lol!

karen b said...

hey emily,
can we borrow your keyboard? i'd like to use it to help ashley learn some songs for honor choir.
thanks,
karen barker

Emily said...

Karen - go for it! Let me know when you are finished and we can arrange a time for me to get it. I'd rather see it used for a good purpose right now than sitting in the church because I can't ever remember to come get it!

karen b said...

thanks! i'll probably bring it home tomorrow (Tuesday). call or e-mail me if you need it for any reason. all our contact info is on the church members website. ashley's going to be mary in the children's xmas musical -- hope you can come see it!