SOCIAL MEDIA

01 June 2012

Adventures at the Mall


                Yesterday was chilly and rainy. Clearly, we couldn’t ride bikes, as Angel and I like to do frequently in the summer, so we decided to go to the mall and walk for exercise. You know, like those cute old couples you see walking around the mall at eight in the morning so that they can get their exercise in a comfortable, climate-controlled environment.
                But let me warn you—walking around the mall is not the cheapest way to get some exercise. Or maybe the problem was our technique. Because we didn’t just walk determinedly down the main hallway, but stopped in whatever stores we wanted to.
                Before I got married, I had no idea that there were shoe stores where the attendants actually measure your feet, put the shoes you’re looking at on your feet, and check the fit. I find this very strange. However, Angel’s favorite thing to buy me is shoes, and because he’s a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to shoe brands, he sometimes takes me to the kind of shops where the attendants put the shoes on your feet.
                Last night we were in such a shop, and we saw a sandal style that I wanted to try on. The very nice man brought out one size 6 sandal in that style, and put it on me. While he was kneeling down, trying to figure out the straps, he exclaimed, “Wow! You have some really skinny feet!”
                I had no idea what to say to that, so, as in all similar situations I have encountered, I said nothing. After a pause he said, “Well, I guess that’s better than having fat feet.” And Angel verbally agreed with him. I liked the sandal on my foot just as much as I had liked it on the shelf, but we spent the next few minutes watching our guy as well as the other people who worked in the shop searching frantically for the right sandal that was of a pair with the left one I was wearing. After trying every spot they could think of, they declared that for some reason, they only had half a pair of that particular sandal, but they could order a pair in for us if we liked.
                We ordered a pair and continued our exercise. At another store, Angel found the exact style of shorts he’s been looking for for weeks, if not months. Both of us are very particular about our clothes, and when we are looking for something, we won’t buy a close approximation, but we’ll wait till we find the precisely perfect one. The problem at this store was that although they had the exact color and style of shorts that Angel wanted, they didn’t have them in his size! Well, actually, they did. Angel discovered that the mannequin near the shorts display was, in fact, wearing the size he needed. So, he went and asked a cashier if he could try on the shorts that the mannequin was wearing, and while the cashier was taking off the mannequin’s shorts, Angel helpfully found another pair of shorts in a different style, but the same size, so that the mannequin would not be half naked.
                After we bought the shorts, we decided that we’d had enough exercise for the day.