I went out with a girlfriend last night. As I was getting dressed, I went to my closet to pick out a pair of shoes...Which ones do I wear? OK- I have a shoe thing...I love shoes. As I was picking up my short black boots (perfect for the black jeans I was wearing), I remembered my dad's comments when I was moving out of his place, and moving into this house.
He came into my room one day and saw all the shoe boxes...He was in disbelief. He asked me- "those aren't ALL shoes are they?!" Um, yeah dad...They are shoe boxes, right? I was really amused because he was in disbelief. I got a bunch of questions...When did you buy those, how much did they cost you, when are you EVER going to wear all those shoes? "Um dad, they're fun...They go with all my clothes. A lot of them are neat cuz they match my Indian outfits perfectly- like those Nine West Disco Pink sequined sandals...Those are my favourite". He looked at me and passed a comment about the fact that I actually had "disco pink" shoes. I pulled them out of the box and showed them to him triumphantly and he said "yeah, they are REALLY nice, but still!"...Ok dad, let's agree to disagree.
He slowly walked out of the room muttering something about how I was single handedly guilty for the people starving in Africa- "there are people starving and you waste all that money on shoes".
"Um, actually, daddy, these shoes are probably made in Africa, so I'm probably helping feed people by buying them". He gave me a "yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night" look and walked out. And then I felt kind of guilty. Maybe this was too many shoes. Maybe I should give some up. When I moved out of the house, I did actually give away about 12 pairs, so I do feel a bit better. But those disco pink ones....I'm not parting with them. I don't know what it is...Maybe its the fact that they're out of character for me...Or at least, according to the "me" that most people know.
When I go to work, I only ever wear black shoes...Sometimes I'll be really daring and wear brown ones...My colleagues never see this side of me. And, its probably for the best. I don't really want people thinking I'm some airheaded queen who has nothing better to do than to walk around in her tick-tick-tick high heels. After all, I work in the corporate world. Its all about the image you give off. To most of them, I'm miss boring MBA corporate black/grey suit girl who probably doesn't know how to have fun. I don't want to spoil that, now do I? I think I'm almost afraid that this shoe thing will somehow invalidate my education and work experience and make people think I'm a total brainless bimbo. Funny- you get into the corporate world and you somehow conform. Its like becoming part of the Borg or something- you must assimilate...
My "in the closet" (tee hee) disco shoes represent the fun side of me that I don't want to let go of. Unfortunately, lately, they've spent more time in the closet than out, but still- I'm not parting with 'em.
Today, I'm going shopping with my sister. And while I am totally a shopaholic, I have promised myself that I would not buy any more shoes this year. I bought a few pairs in April, and nothing since then. I'm waiting until next April...want to see if I can go the whole year without buying shoes. I'll buy other stuff, but I'll hold off on the shoes. Wouldn't want to contribute to the famine in Africa, right? :-)
1 comment:
Very True. I am personally down to the 65..ok, well maybe a couple more than that...and I'm holding on till April to buy more. I figure it would be kinda fun to see if I can go a year without buying more, but actually, its kind of torture. Either way, its probably for the best. As a single mom, the budget leaves alot to be desired, and sadly, spending the money on shoes may not be the best use of funds....makeup and jewellery on the other hand... :-)
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