Ways in which I'm not a girl.

[hannah]

My mother wanted to go shoe shopping today. Excellent, I thought; I can get new dress-up shoes for summer. Sure, I'll go, I said.

After the hour and a half it took me to buy two pairs of shoes, I spent another two hours organzing fanart as a way to decompress. I should've known better.

It started out by being told I needed to get rid of my beloved comfy pink jacket, continued by being told I needed to stop gaining weight, went on to not be able to talk to any of the sales people because there weren't enough of them to do more than give me two minutes of talk and then go get some new shoes from the storage room, and after about an hour I was scratching my arm up hard. And of course I was told to stop, and I did, and then I started again. I stopped entirely when she made a move over to me. Before I left, I went to the bathroom and hyperventillated a little bit.

The worst part is that I wanted to get some new shoes. Sandals. Footware appropriate for summer months when Chuck Taylors would be inappropriate, such as professional conferences or religious ceremonies. I tried talking to one of the salesmen, doing my best to describe what I wanted - something with straps that went over the top of my foot and around my ankle with a good sole for standing and walking - and learned there wasn't a specific term for the Platonic ideal I was chasing. I'd really been hoping he could say something like "you want a 23-19 in a brown or black" and pull out a shoe catalog with a cross-referenced index. Instead, well. At least I've got them now.

I would've preferred to work on cover letters. And that's saying something.

Comments

[blackmare.livejournal.com]

Oh, Hannah. Your mom sounds ... well-meaning, but not like she's really helping.

You have all my sympathy.

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

We both wanted me to leave with new shoes. We had very different ways of communicating to each other to further that goal.

For a few years now I've had the suspicion my dad's Done The Reading on how to raise a kid with an autism spectrum diagnosis, but my mom hasn't. I think this might well be the case, but I have no idea how to ask.

[perspi.livejournal.com]

Oh, darling, what a day. *hugs* and *tea*

And you have some sandals now, but I might suggest that Teva has some great dressy-ish sandals that are built for great comfort, too. For future reference.

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

The store had some Tevas and similar brands, and I passed them over on the grounds that they weren't formal enough. And I'm really, really picky when it comes to where the straps are on my foot.

[perspi.livejournal.com]

Ah, I can see where that could make sandal-shopping particularly trying. And yeah, the Tevas I have aren't formal, by any means.

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

There needs to be a good sole for walking, since I'll be wearing it all day. It needs to go around my ankle to secure it, and give me the feeling of security. It needs to go over whatever the toe-knuckles are called. There needs to be a strap going up the middle of the foot, or crisscrossing over it, to give that part security as well.

You have no idea how happy I was to switch to Chuck Taylors after years of bulky sneakers. No idea. Touch is important.

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, honey. I agree with Mare -- your Mom meant well, but that didn't help matters.

I really like these rather delightfully old fashioned sandals, and just wish they came in red to match my new handbag. :)

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to try with cover letters tonight and just try for bed before midnight. Feh.

Too much heel for me. But maybe you can get a red-black or red-brown thing going. Do they match any dresses?

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

Black matches most of my dresses. Red would really be fun -- I don't think I've ever had any red shoes except sneakers long ago. I bought the handbag in red because it was just such a neat color, and because it has a center pocket that holds my e-reader perfectly.

[newredshoes]

Oh dear! If you were here in Chicago, I'd drag you over to Hanig's and Alamo. In all honesty, have you tried someplace like Zappo's (with its excellent free and lightning-fast shipping) or the Walking Company?

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

I've ordered stuff from Zappo's, but only if I know exactly what I'll be getting down to the half-size. Here, I was trying to get something new, so it wouldn't have worked - a couple of shoes that looked good I rejected because the heel was too stiff and I knew that'd give me blisters, and a couple others were too long in the toe.

Well, now I've got new stuff, and all I can do is hope this company never goes out of business so I can buy exact replicas when these wear out.