Shoe Shopping is not for the Faint of Heart

Monday, I was forced to endure one of my least favorite activities. I was forced to shoe shop. I had a job interview on Wednesday and I had clothing, thanks to my mother, but not a single pair of dress shoes.

Shoe shopping is something that a lot of other people love. I hear about people having closets full of shoes and I wonder how that can possibly bear the effort required to obtain them. Then I realize that it's just me. For the same reason I have problems purchasing bras and other clothing, I have problems buying shoes. I wear a size ten.

When you walk into the ladies section there are shoes grouped by size and after size eight the groupings get smaller and smaller. When you get to size ten there are a quarter of the amount that they have for size seven. It always seems like they believe that all size tens and above work in circuses or strip clubs. Why do I want an orange flat with a giant orange flower on it? I don't and neither does anyone else.

I was looking for a sensible office shoe. I wanted a black pair of pumps with a two inch heel. I went to the mall because they have many stores that sell shoes and that way Jack and I didn't have to drive all over the city looking. I started at JC Penney because my mother told me they were having a sale. They were having a sale on Summer sandals, which did not help me out. I continued the search there anyway and found one pair that was acceptable, but it was more than I wanted to spend and after I inspected it more thoroughly, cheaply made.

I took the department store tour finding a pair at Payless and then later at Sears. The Payless shoes were 29.99, which is more than I am willing to pay for a shoe from that store. Since I only keep one dress shoe on hand they have to be up to every day wear and no matter what my mother says, Payless shoes are not meant for that. Also, if your feet sweat at all they stink like death.

The shoes at Sears were absolutely perfect. I loved them. Alas, they only had them in nine, ten wide, and eleven. Boxes and Boxes of elevens. I tried on the lone pair of ten wide and they were, of course, too big. I asked if they had any in the back and the lady barely acknowledge me enough to give me the very gruff Wal-mart motto of "Whatever is on the shelf."

I finally left the mall, defeated. I mean, I found a baby baseball cap on clearance and I had been looking for one of those for weeks, but I left shoeless. I was going to attempt to find a Ross or a Marshall's, but as I was pulling away from the mall I saw Peltz. Typically, Peltz is too expensive for me. They have great products, but the cost more than I want to spend. I figured it would be the same as always when I went in. Jack burst into tears the moments we got to the women's shoe section. He wouldn't calm down, which is so rare for him, and I thought I was going to have to leave. The salesperson came over thogh and he set aside his anguish to flirt with her. I then told her exactly what I was looking for and she led me straight to the proper section. She showed me a few that were out of my price range, but then we finally got to a pair that would be perfect. Sexy? No. Functional? Yes. The shoe pictured below, in standard black and not patent leather. It's made by Easy Street and it's called the Career Pump. I also planned to spend $30.00 and they we're $29.99. SCORE!