As I mentioned in the last post, part of my resolution was to pay off credit cards. To aid that goal, I have not only cut expenses, but also got a part time job at a high end handbag and shoe store. I've been there for a couple of weeks now, and had a most interesting experience yesterday!
A young man (I would guess between 20 and 25) came in asking if we were hiring. I told him, "No, sorry. We just hired our fourth person. Good luck, though!" To which he told me thanks and started walking out the door. On his way out, he grabbed a pair of our highest heels and said, "Oh My GAWD! I LOOOOOOVE these shoes!" It was quite apparent to me that he was of the homosexual persuasion, so I thought he was just admiring our handiwork. He eyed the shoes up and down, so I went through my normal selling points...
"Yeah, those are a great pair of shoes! All of our shoes have memory foam, so they stay super comfortable all day long. And I know the heels look a bit daunting, but since there's the inch platform in addition to the memory foam, this pair is so easy to walk in!"
I assumed that he was interested in the shoes for a family member of a friend. WRONG!
In response to my sales pitch his eyes lit up and asked me what size we go up to. I told him a 10 (by this time I'm catching on that maybe the shoes aren't for a friend, but rather for himself.) I told him that's my size, too, and he asked if he could try them on, and if so, did he have to keep his socks on. I told him that he should of course try on the shoes with whatever he'd wear them with, and that if he wanted, I would be glad to give him some of the little hose used for trying on shoes.
He proceeded to try on the 4" pair of shoes and tell me about how the other day he bought a $300 pair of 12" platforms. I was impressed.
After trying on a champagne colored heel, he spotted the same shoe in black. "Oh my GAWD! I HAVE to try that pair on too! Do you have a 10?" We did, and after asking for another hose bootie (his big toe ripped a hole in the right bootie from the first try on), he tried on the black pair of heels. He was in love and pranced around the store in heels.
At the same time the young man was frolicking in the back of the store, another gentleman walked by outside and did a double-take. After comically blinking he decided that yes, he did indeed see a man walking around in women's shoes in the middle of a high end mall. He gave me a questioning look to which I replied with a shrug. I mean, a sale is a sale, regardless of who wears the shoes!
At the end of the whole experience, the young sir asked me to put both pairs of shoes on hold for him, because he'd have to ask his husband if he could get them. Apparantly, he has a bit of a shoe and skinny jean fetish that his husband is getting a bit tired of paying for. I said, isn't that what husbands are for?
Certainly it was an experience I won't soon forget! Not only did the young man provide me with some humor (how often is it, really, that you see a man prancing about in high heels), but he also astounded me with his confidence. How remarkable that he was so sure of himself that he felt comfortable telling me, a complete stranger working in a high end store, that he was a) a part of the gay community; b) was a male with a husband (in the state of TX no less!) and c) was so sure of himself that he could try on and walk around in women's shoes!
This was surely a 4th of July I won't soon forget!
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