work today was fairly slow but, of course, not without incident.

almost an hour before close, two high school girls came into the store. after watching them wander around for a few minutes, i decided to reshelve some shoes in the storage area behind the counter. i reassured them that i would be back momentarily should they need my help, gathered my boxes, and ducked behind the curtain.

a minute later when i reappeared, the store was strangely empty. "hrmm!" i thought. "i didn't hear the doorbell when they left. that's odd."

i sat at the counter and tried to immerse myself in learning how to accessorize with color for spring 2004, but i simply could not shake the feeling that something was amiss. the doorbell is headache-inducing. how could i have not heard it when the girls left? or..

"surely not," i thought. "surely.."

straining to hear voices, i slowly made my way to our basement staircase. i stepped off the stairs into the basement, or as we of shoetopia fondly refer to it, the Pits of Hell. i walked on the bare concrete floor past the cobwebs, the mismatched plastic shelving packed with boxes, and the exposed fluorescent lighting. finally, as i reached the very back room of the basement, i heard voices.

"oh nooooooo, this heel is WAY too tall for me."

apparently, my high school customers had tired of our lovely showroom and had decided to check out the storage basement.

doing my very best to keep a straight face, i informed them of their mistake, (OH MY GOSH!!!!! REALLY!?!?!?!?) and led them back upstairs. as the left, i cracked open another diet coke, popped two aspirin, and called everyone in my cell phone to tell them today's treacherous tale of shoe store mayhem.

first the sorority, and now the shoe store. women of the world, i'm losing respect for our gender. let's step it up. love ya.

- - -
elsewhere:

i spent new years in washington state with a few of my favorite bloggers and some other people that were cool even though they don't have websites. thank you guys very much for the good times. <3
ryan | jason | mark | brittany | steve