Here's a curious parallel.  This weekend, I went shoe shopping and picked up some new sneakers.  Nothing so odd about that.  But what is funny is that independently, my good friend Maggie, who authors Pandora's Tea Room, wrote an article about shoe shopping and strangely we both mused about similar ideas.  When I got home and was thinking about writing up my shoe shopping ideas I was quite suprised!  Coincidence is a funny thing sometimes...

I'm not a jogger, so I don't buy nice running shoes, just your average el-cheapo sneakers.  On my last 3 visits to the shoestore, I've ended up buying the same shoes, 12W "Cross Trekkers", all black sneakers with velcro flaps.  They're pretty comfortable and they aren't too flashy.  One thing I'm always irritated by, though, is the fact that the shoe has changed every time I go back to buy another pair.  Okay these are Payless shoes, alright?  Nobody goes to Payless for the "latest fashion trends".  Therefore I can't figure out why somebody feels the need to change the shoe every 3 to 6 months.  The average adult foot doesn't change that much every 3 to 6 months does it?  Well what the heck is the shoe changing for?

It irritates me because someday I'm going to walk into Payless and find my favorite pair of shoes has been altered to the point where I don't like them anymore.  Believe me, there's not a great selection in 12W, and that's the size I need.  Not 11.5,  not 12, not 12.5.  12W.  The store I was at probably had a grand selection of 10 pairs of 12W shoes, and in that selection was sneakers, boat shoes, dress shoes, loafers, and workboots.  In the interest of trying to make them last longer, I ended up getting 2 pairs of Cross Trekkers this time (although sadly one pair has laces instead of velcro--yes I'm lazy and I don't like having to tie, re-tie, and re-re-tie my shoes.)

Once I paid for the shoes, I immediately sat down and switched into them, putting my grubby falling-apart shoes into the box.  My daughter was with me at the time and I said to her, "Hey Lynnea, here's a funny idea, let's put the pricetag on these ratty old shoes and put them back on the shelf!"  To which she said "NO.  Give me those," and proceeded to take my old shoes and throw them out.  No sense of adventure that one... but ultimately, she made the responsible choice.  I wouldn't really have done it anyway, but it was a funny idea to think about.  I just had this picture of a person pulling these shoes off the shelf and they're falling apart, covered in dirt and grass stains, and smelly.  Hey it already says "Cross Trekkers 12W" on the box and that's what they are... I wonder how long before somebody got wise and threw them out.  Ah well.