Fleeting

Let me just say upfront, I know there's people with way bigger problems than mine. Please don't judge.

Time for new shoes. Comfortable ones. I have about 30 pairs of black flat shoes, every single pair entirely without charm. But after a summer of sandal wearing I find none of them are comfortable. For the last 20 years I've been edging further away from fashionable and closer and closer to practical.

Yesterday I bought a pair of Dansko clogs. Very comfortable, but appearance-wise? I may as well wear the boxes.

I told the young sales clerk I didn't want ugly. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. One eyebrow arched. The eyebrow said "Lady... you're shopping in the Dansko section... get real."

It was a painful purchase. On many levels. I've hit bottom on the shoe tree. There is no where clunkier to go.

When I got my very first paycheck in high school my priority was the perfect pair of shoes. I rushed right out and bought red heels. I loved those shoes. I loved how I felt in those shoes. It's not easy working red heels into your wardrobe but I did it. I wore them every chance I got.

Look at Dorothy... having the perfect pair of ruby slippers was absolutely essential to her story. Would she have made it home with Dansko clogs? Probably not. Unless she decided to walk.

I can't imagine the Munchkins would have paid her the least bit of attention. "Who's that?"
"Oh some Midwest farm girl in clogs... Hey! Where should we go to lunch today?"

Cinderella? Her heels changed her life. Of course it was all about the fit with her too. But if she'd left behind a Birkenstock would Prince Charming have raced all over the kingdom clutching a clog trying to find her?

Highly unlikely.

The odd part is I don't remember discarding that first pair of red heels. I apparently abandoned them without a thought. Never realizing the red heel wearing part of my life would be so short.