September 11, 2006

• Shoe Math

  You've heard of new math. Let me share with you my shoe math.

  We recently received our tax return. Ours takes a while because of the whole injured spouse thing. John's ex gets his share for back child support. In the meantime, I have to wait on my share until the IRS figures out for sure what goes to the ex and what comes back to us.

  Anyway, I've been needing a new pair of black dress shoes. My old black flats have gotten smelly and nothing I do to them helps anymore, so I threw them in the trash. Wal-Mart's got nothing cute in my size (and their shoes never last anyway) so I go to the "real" shoe store in town. Any of the shoes I've ever bought there tend to last for years anyway, so it's a good investment. I figure I'm going to pay $30-50 for a pair of shoes, but it will be worth it if they last as long as the last pair I had purchased there (which I still own, BTW).

  So, I go into the shoe store and explain to the salesman that I need a dress shoe in a 9 or 9 1/2 that I can wear with or without pantyhose. I hate pantyhose so I'd like something I can get by without wearing them if I can. The heal can't be more than 2" because my old broken ankle can't handle the height anymore. He finds me a cute pair of sling pumps that I try on but the toe is kind of pointed and I need the 9 1/2. Of course, they don't have that one in 9 1/2 (as my luck always goes). BUT, while I'm sitting in the chair waiting as he's looking for the 9 1/2, right next to me are these adorable leather Tsongas. I try on the size 9 that's on display and my foot is loving the feel of the leather. I look at the price tag, $90. No way am I spending $90 on a pair of shoes. But they feel so good and they are so cute. How often do you find cute shoes that are comfortable too?

  The salesman continues to look for another pair of shoes for me that are similar to the ones I tried on that didn't quite fit. In the meantime, I find another cute pair of flats on the clearance table for $10. They are cute, too, but a little too dressy for casual stuff, and not nearly as stylish nor as comfortable as the Tsongas. But the Tsongas are $90. So then it dawns on me - I can handle spending $50 a pair for good shoes. You take the $90 shoes and you and the $10 shoes (which were marked down from $60) and they average out to $50 a pair. I walked out of the store with both pairs.

  

  I've worn my Tsongas for two days now. I just love them! Mine look just like the ones above, except they are black.

  • 9:34 pm
  • 7 Comments