i went shoe shopping yesterday.
specifically, my mother took me to REI, to get new boots (i refuse to wear anything besides hiking boots. ostensibly, i need the support they offer my feet. in reality, i have never worn a good shoe that wasn’t a hiking boot and i have no idea.)
as it happened, i had no clue there was anything wrong with my old boots and remain somewhat unconvinced, but my mother was paying so i was happy enough to go to the store and try on a bunch of shoes
it was one of those shoe shopping trips. you know the ones. you put on a dozen pairs of shoes and instantly know they’re not right. your mother crows about how good they look and how they’ll get broken in, but you know. they’re not right. they’ll never be right. no amount of breaking in will fix it.
we were growing weary. the baby kept disappearing among the racks when we turned away for mere moments, and my mother had to go find him, usually in a pile of stuff he’d pulled down to play with. i didn’t come on those expeditions, because my foot is still injured—i need to conserve the few steps i have every day. the baby, at least, had a great time. he’s two and speaks only russian, and is this something of a terror to have in stores.
the moment i found the right boots was – how do i put this – climactic.
i slipped my foot into it and before i’d even tied the laces i knew. this was my boot. (my boot had been taken off a display area, so i only had the one. i rushed to ask an employee for a pair to it.)
the world, which i had been ignoring to try on boots, came back to me. i was desperately thirsty. my mother wanted to go home. the baby had disappeared again.
none of this came near the raw euphoria of finding he right boots. for long minutes, i couldn’t bear to take them off to buy them.
after i got home, the box sat in my room all evening. from the moment i woke up in the morning (okay, at 1:56pm), the box stared at me, taunting me. i wanted to put them on, i planned how i would put them on, but i couldn’t do it.
after several hours i gathered the rest of my outfit. in another hour, i put it on, followed, reverently, by the boots.
i started to clean my room, first taking out the trash, and found myself sorting my recycling.
it was then that i knew for certain that these were the boots. only god or new boots could compel me to sort my recycling, and i’m an atheist.
Tags:
#anything that makes me laugh this much deserves a reblog #clothing
Brinens and Things 