Back when I visited Japan in '97 I took along four pairs of shoes. Two of them were new. One of my new pairs was a cute, little pair of black leather ankle boots. (OK they weren't little but they were cute). They looked good with jeans and with my black dress slacks. They also wreaked havoc with the little toe on my left foot.
Here we are 13 years later and that toe is still messed up. I probably should go to the foot doctor but I don't like the idea of people messing around with my feet. Except of course for my husband. But, he won't come near them. A girl should be able to get a foot massage once in awhile don't you think? I'll admit they're not my most attractive feature but they're better than my sister's feet. Sorry sis.
I learned a valuable lesson from that trip. Never take new shoes to a country where it will be impossible to replace them. I wear a size 11 woman's shoe, I don't think there's a woman on the entire island nation of Japan with a size 11 foot. Unless of course there's some freakishly big farm girl up in the mountain regions or something. But I probably wouldn't want her shoes anyway.
I recently bought some shoes form E-bay. (Another lesson learned - don't buy shoes off ebay unless you are familiar with the manufacturer's sizing.) They are very nice shoes and I really wish they fit but they don't. So here I sit, stuck with a pair of size 11 plum colored ballet flats that nobody wants.
Enter, Mr. Gomez. I get an email from the lady I ebayed the shoes from. She forwards me the email address of Mr. Gomez, who is interested in my shoes even if I've worn them. I email him and immediately get a response back. He explains that he lives in Mexico and would like to buy not only these shoes, but any size 11 shoes I have, new or used. He says he prefers flat shoes and wears a 10.5 shoe.
I am assuming that Mr. Gomez is a transvestite and, like me in Japan in 1997, is stuck in a country with little to no footwear options. I feel for the guy. Today I'll be taking pictures of my used shoes and emailing them to him. I probably won't even charge him for the cute little black leather ankle boots.
