Shoes’ shopping! It is one of those pleasurable habits of mine that gets better as my economic status improves and as my fairy god mother, also known as mom, surrenders to my endless requests for contributions to my shoe fund.
I know it sounds silly but I have a shoe fund, which I started about a year ago when I realized that a shoe collection actually means having more than two pairs and a few slippers. My shoe fund matures every six months which is when I go shoe hunting, shoe shopping, whatever you want to call it and there is no better time to buy a new pair than the holidays.
Shoes are generally affordable, whereas a good pair requires making a sacrifice, but during the holidays everything is affordable even shoes! I love this season for that sole reason: bargains. Shoes shopping is not what is used to be though; it is much more exciting given the influx of male sales reps in the business.
Ever been sold a pair of shoes by a man who knows what he is about? Perhaps it is my consciousness but men make good salespersons, particularly men who sell shoes, well some men who sell shoes. Strange enough there are a fair amount of men in sales these days— you see them more around the holidays– who are upstaging their female colleagues.
I have had my share of bad experiences with men who cannot tell the difference between a wedge heel and a high heel so there is something to be said for the salesman who understands, that it can be damning to approach a woman and repeatedly ask what a wedge heel looks like.
Some of us are just lucky though, like me. We end up walking into those stores where the men are trained to spot the shoe shoppers and those who are shoe-spotting and still, treat them the same way. They know how to smile and ask if you want to sit, relax and try on any pair even if that is all you had planned on doing. And there is more.
They offer their hands to you as foot stools, help you take off the shoes, and even suggest stashing a particular pair for you (if finances are lacking at that time). You can try on five pairs and they will walk you through the process never complaining about whether you taking away a sale that might be elsewhere in the store because “you don’t look serious enough”.
As you stand in the mirror admiring how a particular pair looks secretly hoping a girlfriend was there to guide you a voice confirms what you where thinking–you do not really need a second opinion, it looks as good as you think it looks. He even throws in a compliment on the side, maybe fishing for the sale, but just adding a bit of charm to the experience.
Call me biased or a woman who is looking for more out of the shoes shopping experience, but I would prefer to have a man rather a woman sell me a pair of shoes any day. Even if he is a bit clueless. Chances are I will leave feeling attended to and smiling as I did a few days ago.
(thescene@stabroeknews.com)
