A female fetish

I was having one of those thought provoking conversations with my friend Adam the other day and the topic of conversation was shoes.  And specifically, the crazy things women do when they go into a shoe store.  Adam works at Nine West in San Marcos, Texas and in the time that he has worked there, he has seem some pretty crazy things.  The part of the conversation that had me in stitches was when Adam was telling me about why the shoe stores always display size "6" shoes on the floor.  Well, for those of you who are wondering this like I was, here's the answer.  
I need you to think back a moment to your childhood when you watched with your mother the classic Disney movie "Cinderella." Are you following where this is going?  Do you remember the hideously ugly stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella?  Yeah, the taller one with dark hair in the green dress who can't sing a note, and the shorter one in pink with red hair that struggles with the flute.  Now, think back to what happens next when Prince Charming comes back in search of his princess requiring that every female try on the glass slipper left behind at the palace the night of the ball.

Oh boy.  I hate this scene in the movie.  I get nauseous whenever I see the stepsister with the huge foot try and cram it into the dainty glass slipper....

WHY?!?!?!  Why oh why do women do this?  This is Adam's point.  Women come into the shoe store and see the cute little size 6 shoe on display knowing full well that they wear a size 9 or 10.  Does that stop them from trying to squeeze their foot into the size 6? No way.  We are strange creatures, us women.
Adam didn't believe his manager when she told him to never place a size 5 shoe out on the display because of this very "size differential" phenomenon.  Imagine the damage done to a size 5 shoe after countless "try-ons" by patrons with an obviously larger-than-size-five foot!  I'm going to avoid even getting into the details of trying on shoes - that thought also makes me a little queasy - let's just say I have issues, shall we?  haha!  Adam realized quickly that his manager was right - save the small shoes for the customers with small feet.  So really, shoe stores are looking out for the ladies with small feet that are lucky to find a shoe small enough for their size 5 foot without having those few pairs completely stretched out by others.  Interesting.  I really got a kick out of this conversation with Adam - as always.

If I sat down with some paper and a pencil and some free time that seems so hard to come by these days, I could write a very interesting paper on shoes.  They describe us - even define us perhaps.  I think about the people close to me and in my mind I can think of a pair of shoes from their wardrobe that defines who they are to me.  Shoes describe personality.  Check it out for yourself.  Next time you're out and about - pay attention to the shoes people are wearing.  Are they flashy and flambouyant? comfortable and clean? worn and falling apart, yet full of character from experience? all business?  Shoes say a lot about us.  Who we are, where we've been, where we're going, etc.  Oh the insights that come from being friends with a boy who works in a shoe-store.  =)  Whether we literally leave behind big (or small) shoes for others to fill, may the road always be one of challenges and triumphs...leaving marks for others to follow.