Shoes

I need your help. You see, I recently realized something about me that doesn't seem all that manly.

I know it is sexist to say that women love shoes, but I've seen it in practice too many times for it to be denied. I know that not all women love shoes, but a great deal of them do.

Anyway, the slightly feminine thing I realized the other day was that there is a certain pair of shoes in my past that I specifically remember as being my favorites. (and no, it isn't the Air Jordans that I somehow got my parents to buy me in Junior High). No, my favorite pair of shoes happens to be my Adidas Samba Classics. At first I think I may have been influenced by the fact that I played a lot of intramural soccer at school. Then I think I was influenced by the fact that my girlfriend at the time was a big fan of Adidas, and that kind of rubbed off on me.

I wore them for a number of years in the middle of my college career. I wore them everywhere and I wore them way too long. I wore them until I had holes in the soles and then I wore them after I plugged the holes with duct tape. I even kept them after I stopped wearing them thinking I could use them as a type of slipper or something, but I finally threw them away last year.

How does this all enter into the story of the present? After eating lunch and watching the first half of the Rose Bowl in a restaurant on the Promenade in Santa Monica with Brian and Erin, we walked up and down going into a few shops. We hit the Gap, a toy store, the Levi's store, and then on our way out I guided us into the Adidas store just on a whim. I still like the stuff, but I didn't expect to get anything, even if they were having a big sale. Brian and Erin wouldn't have even thought of the place but they said "sure" and even ended up buying a pair of shoes each. I also went back to the shoes department and had a look around. There were some cool shoes but nothing that really fit me.

Until...there they were...my next pair of shoes. The Samba Milleniums. I had been into a few Adidas stores and a few Adidas outlets in the past number of years and I never saw a pair of Sambas. I just thought that they had been discontinued or something, so I never really gave it another thought. But there they were in front of me. I tried them on and they looked and felt great. But, being the popular model they are, they were not on sale. I decided to forego buying the shoes then with thoughts that I could find them online for cheaper than $65.

As a side note, on my way out of the store, I spotted a micro fleece jacket that looked kind of cool. It was on a 50% off rack, but I wasn't really sure, since it didn't say anything on the tag, like a number of other clearance items did. I had a guy check the price and sure enough, it was on sale. I snatched up the last medium and I left a happy man. It is very soft and comfortable with two pockets and a chest pocket that perfectly holds the mp3 player I got for Christmas. It has slightly long arms with holes for your thumbs to go through and then a piece of fleece to flip over your hands if you are outside in the cold with no gloves.

Anyway, when we got back to Brian's apartment I started the search for the shoes. I found a place that had them for $10 less than the store, with free shipping. So I ordered them then and there.

They should be waiting at my house when I get home from work. I can't wait. I'm still a man, right?