The power of The Pair

There is an inexplicable and almost mystical bond between woman and shoe. Or rather, shoes. A new pair of shoes gives a woman a powerful oomph that not much else can give. No matter how much they may kill her feet, the shoes aren't taken off until they have been either 1. complimented (by girls and guys) or 2. have created more blisters than she's ever had before. And then, the shoes are only complained about when other women are present, so that she can get as much sympathy from those who have - literally and figuratively - been in her shoes.

But before the shoes are ever put on, the bond is there. A woman might not even be attempting to buy shoes, but there they are, just sitting innocently in the window of the store...the Perfect ones. The ones that would go great with that one outfit when she puts that cute coat on, and wears that one thing in her hair. They will perfect the outfit in the exact way that her other fifty pairs couldn't. It's magic. Once a girl gets a pair of shoes in her eyes and in her heart, her money is a goner. In fact, it wouldn't matter if the shoes didn't go with that one outfit when she puts on that cute coat and that one thing in her hair, she will buy them anyways, because, well, they'll go with something.

I'm only saying this because I had a similar experience this week. I went into REI to get work shoes, and after some hemming and hawing, I saw them. Plain, simple, dorky, clunky, somehow they ended up on my feet, and I was hooked. I managed to convince myself that they would work with any outfit, (something that was pretty surprisingly accurate)...I looked into my mother's eyes and said "these are them." That was all it took, and she knew as well as I did, that no matter how much I looked at others, I was going to walk out with those very shoes...and you know what? I did.