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August 20, 2007

Shoe Buying

Jack needed shoes. Well, all the boys did but Jack got his Sunday. And this is how the shopping trip went.

The boys and I drove to Target, walked in the front door and headed to the shoe department. As we turned off a main aisle in to shoes — and I mean like two steps out of the main aisle — I saw a pair of blue and white tennis shoes and asked, "Jack, do you like these?"

"Yes. I do." he said. "And look, this pair is an 11 just like I wear."

We tried on an 11 and an 11 1/2 before going with the 11. Jack then said, "I'll be in video games," and I was left to shop a bit as his brothers trailed after him.

Total time spent shoe shopping: Fewer than 5 minutes. Fewer than $20.00 spent.

Jack truly shops like a man.

Compare that to:

Samson needed shoes.

Friday night we went to Dick's to look for Nike Shox. They didn't have Shox in Samson's size so we looked at many other pair. While we looked, Haydn found a pair of shoes he liked and we got those.

Shoxless, we drove to The Sports Authority. They were out of Shox in Samson's size. We looked at many other shoes but didn't find anything that met Sam's needs.

We drove to Famous Footwear and arrived 10 minutes after they closed.

Saturday we woke up and, after football practice, went to Famous Footwear again. They had no Shox at all and out of the 100s of pairs of shoes they had, Sam didn't find any he really liked.

We drove to Tuttle Mall to visit The Finish Line. No Shox in Sam's size.

We drove to Westland Mall, which is not all that far from Famous Footwear, to visit The Finish Line there. They had Shox although the Shox they had were $30.00 more than the already insane amount the Shox we were looking for cost. We tried on the ungodly expensive Shox thinking we'd find the size that fit and order the insanely expensive pair for delivery. There was only one problem, the insanely expensive pair was not available when we went to order it.

In the end we got the ungodly expensive pair of shoes and put some conditions on their wear. No skateboarding in them, no digging holes in them, no "anything" but wearing them to school.

I have never paid as much for a pair of my own shoes as I paid for Sammo's and I normally get two pair for what I paid for his. I sweat over every dollar if I'm buying something for myself but am a little quicker to spend money on the children (or so it seems). Samson made it easy to buy the shoes as he wasn't in a whiney-I-need-these state; he was being a little gentleman.

A little gentleman with expensive tastes.

(We've already had the conversation in which I explain that spending a fortune for kids shoes will not be a recurring Wells-family theme.)

Posted by delmer at August 20, 2007 8:42 AM

Comments

So it is true that the Geeky American Male wears slippers all they time.....that explains the price of your footwear.

Posted by: Jack at August 20, 2007 10:22 AM

Having just returned from a *quick* shopping trip with Little Miss Pen, I really understand about the "I sweat over every dollar if I'm buying something for myself but am a little quicker to spend money on the children" theme. Having said that I wasn't going to get her anything (as she didn't *need* anything, I then managed to spend a fortune on her anyway - mostly because she didn't ask for anything at all!

Posted by: Pen at August 20, 2007 12:22 PM

Jack: The geeks here typically wear slippers with black dress socks.

Pen: It is so much easier to *want* to spend money when there is no whining involved.

Posted by: delmer at August 20, 2007 5:01 PM

Geeks also mow the grass with shorts, navy blue socks, and loafers on. And usually a white t-shirt but this can vary.

Posted by: mikeo at August 20, 2007 6:38 PM