Shopping with Sarah

[Lea]

Out shopping at lunch time today, I had two really wonderful experiences.

The first was while shopping at my favorite shoe store. I was perusing my size, while wearing a cute pair of wedge sandals, subtle enough that most people don’t notice them with jeans. An older women, further down the aisle, was looking at shoes in the same size as me and took several glances at my shoes. Finally, I smiled at her and that’s when she asked, “Do you like to wear women’s shoes?” Years ago, I would have panicked. Confidently, I answered, “Yes, women’s shoes are so much more exciting, so many different options.” She agreed at how boring men’s shoes can be, just sneakers or loafers. We ended up chatting for a few minutes about the shoes we like, how painful heels can be at times, which flats were the most comfortable, and where we like to shop. Walking away, she left with a “Good luck” goodbye.

Exhilarated, I finished my perusing and went off to one of my other favorite stores.

Again, with confidence, I walked into the women’s shoes department and started browsing. There was an attractive woman, about my age, trying on a pair of black block heels, looking like she really wanted someone else’s opinion. My mouth opened and commented “Those shoes look good on you”. She smiled, thanked me, and I continued browsing shoes, with another compliment to her about how well her shoes went with her orange dress. We started talking about heel heights, and I suggested that the block heel would give her good support, even if she went with the higher heels. She was attentive, captivated with various shoe observations and advice I was sharing.

Off I went browsing shoes at the other end of the aisle. A few moments later, she surprised me, pleasantly, by engaging me in a conversation – “Are you on your lunch break?” The adventure continued, we ended up talking about what we do for work, how much we enjoy shopping, finding deals, and how we both found that black shoes tend to be our default color, with tan as our backup. She loved to wear flip flops, but couldn’t wear them at work, so she was looking for a few work pairs. She was struggling to find a 2nd pair in size 8 1/2 to get the sale price.

Wishing her good luck, I went off to the next aisle and found a pair of strappy stilettos to try on. Around the corner she appeared, no shoes in hand, sad she couldn’t find that 2nd pair for the deal. This time, she complimented me on the stilettos I was trying on with “You look good in those, you could wear them to work!”

She picked up a pair of tan pumps and commented on how tight they were. Just as I suggested that she try a size up, she smiled and said that was what she was thinking too. I joked that “We seem to think alike.” Still looking a bit unsure, she turned to me and asked, “What do you think of these?” Without hesitation, as she modeled them, I responded, “Those look really good on you, definitely great for work with dresses and pants, and they compliment your dress really well.”

She was ecstatic, she had found 2 pairs of shoes and could get that 2nd pair deal she really wanted! We exchanged names (not quite my real name), she excitedly said “Thanks for shoe shopping with me”, and Sarah happily walked away with two really cute pairs of shoes.

As for me, I walked away with an amazing memorable moment.

[Anonymous]

Lea you handled that so well and we are proud of you for it hon. really does make shopping an exciting experience like that. I am finding women much more approachable now while shopping as to oppose to years past too. Thanks for sharing Lea

[Rose]

Great story, Lea!

[Author]

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