I love shoes. I love shoes way too much and I’m not that picky. I love flats, boots, heels, wedges, sandals, sneakers… you get it, I really love shoes. I probably spend no more than 15 minutes deciding whether to buy a pair or not. I rarely even try them on. When I see a pair I love I get a feeling inside that most girls my age get when they see their boyfriend or husband. (But who’s really winning here, shoe’s don’t talk back and are always there for you) Anyway, what I’m try to get at is, shoe shopping should be fun and easy, but lately I feel like I’m the only one who sees it that way.
Stores, 100% of the time, have a shoe on display with the other sizes either in the back or somewhere near by. Where I work we stack a size run in order and have a random size on top, because well, that’s what works for us. I guess It’s a super hard concept to understand tho because daily I will get a customer who picks up the one shoe on top and says “This is not my size, you don’t have my size”. The stack of boxes under that shoe is just there for fun, you’re right.
I like to compare shoes to jeans, different brands are going to fit differently. You may be a size 7 in one brand and a 6 in another. No big deal, but apparently when I suggest to go up or down a size I also have snakes crawling out of my eyes, because that is the only explanation for the dirty looks and reactions I get.
Three. Hours. Later. Not one or two, three. That is the longest amount of time I have spent with a customer while they were deciding on one pair of shoes. I used to think the one hour customer was crazy, but that’s a daily thing lately. “That spot under my arch up by my little toe feels odd,” a comment like that doesn’t even surprise me anymore. So, why don’t you walk forward like a typical customer… No, no, no… we must also walk backwards, side to side, shuffle a bit, do the hokey pokey and turn it all around. Three. Long. Islands. That’s what I need.
Is there a word that just makes you cringe? One of my friends hates the word “moist”, so I say it a lot. Ha ha. The word that gives me the heebee-geebees lately is “bunion”. You would have a problem with it too if you heard it at least 20 times a day.
“Does this shoe come in sizes?” I’m not kidding, I’ve gotten that question more than once.
This last one is hard for me to write, because I still don’t believe it actually happened. But, it has… not once… but twice. “I like to buy my shoes a size bigger than needed because I forget to clip my toe nails.” I apologize to anyone who was eating while reading that or planning on eating anytime in the future.
I was blessed with an easy going personality, way too much patience, and a love for cheap wine. Those three things keep me sane, loving my job, and loving what I do.
Emily Bracey 