If the shoe fits....

I have freakishly large feet. It has always been so.

Shopping for shoes as a child was a horror show. My mother could not understand why my feet kept growing. It got to the point that she had to drive me and my two fat feet all the way to another county, where there was a "special" shoe store for people like me

I know the shoe store was intended to shod people with orthotics, flat feet, stumpy feet, crippled feet.

It carried few shoes in my size range and I usually had the choice of 2-3 pretty ugly shoes. The trip to the specialty shoe store was an all day affair, ending in frustration and tears from my mother, fits of refusal from me and the purchase of an expensive, ugly pair of shoes that I was only to wear to school so they would last longer. Thankfully, my feet grew extensively longer and fatter and I only had the ugly shoes less than a year if I was lucky.

My father told me to wear shoe boxes and made me a pair of shoebox shoes as a joke. Glad that it was only a joke but I was equally glad to have gone barefoot for most of my outdoor days or wear flip flops every single day of summer. A perpetual bloody stubbed toe was my badge of honor and survival.

I had to turn down being a bridesmaid in 2 weddings because of the required footwear for the occasion. Humiliating but true.

I wore mens sneakers and sandals (still do) every day unless there was a special occasion or I was forced into a dress for school. For band recitals, when long dresses and nice shoes were required, I wore way too small shoes that came off the second the concert was over and I walked barefooted to the car.

As an adult, the quest for footwear has been just as difficult. Not so much the length any longer. Thankfully, women have grown taller and their feet longer; its the width that proves the challenge.

We all have our little imperfections to deal with as we grow up. Feet were mine. Forget acne, split ends, jelly belly or cellulite. Feelings of nausea and insecurity still strike me as I enter any shoe store.

I relive the days of shoe managers and salesmen making horrid comments about my feet. The last was at a Nordstroms where the manager was called to deal with me and told me they could not help me there so I would have to find another shoe store to order my shoes. That was a pivotal day for me. The first time I stood up for me and my feet, offering to stick one in his mouth or up his rear. . . his choice. I also wrote to the company. Although it only got me an apology and I was still shoeless.

Now that we have worldwide internet, my hours and days spent seeking shoes are shrunk. I have had much better success and suffered no further assault to my psyche.

I have to give a shout out to PAYLESS SHOES who have carried super sizes for women for decades and helped in my quest of appropriate shoes by calling associate stores. The shoes are never comfy, but suffice, are inexpensive and last.

 If you hate odd feet, have a little foot fetish or consider any shoe size over an 11 WWW to be abhorrent, keep your comments to yourselves or risk impalement by flying foot.

I am what I am, I stand tall and upright with my feet planted firmly on the ground. If the shoe fits, I wear it- Mens or womens.