Deb Ward, GWS, OWS, PWS, WSI - WATERCOLOR/WATER MEDIA - My passion is teaching adult “beginners”. Weekly classes in my home; workshops; classes for Cincinnati Recreation Commission. My work is nationally recognized and published - see “Featured” on my sidebar. I’m a Signature Member of Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana state Watercolor Societies, Cincinnati Art Club, past-President of Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society. Contact info below under “Class Information”

Saturday, January 8, 2011

EMBARRASSING MOMENTS . . . .

My daughter and I were going to Ikea (for the umpteenth time!) and when I got dressed I located a pair of slacks to wear that hadn’t fit for a while (yippee!) which prompted me to locate a pair of shoes other than my usual black loafers. A nice looking pair of brown Easy Spirit that were a few years old, but only worn a few times. I was lookin’ snazzy (or so I thought!).

After putting on the shoes and walking around a bit, I found some dark dirt following me. I looked at the bottom of the shoes and thought I must have gotten dirt on them the last time I wore them; swept it up and left the house.
After getting to Ikea and walking a while, it felt like there was something sticking to the inside of my right heel – a quick check showed no such thing – but after a few more steps that just didn’t feel right, I picked up my foot and looked at the bottom – and part of my heel was gone! W H A A A T? I told my daughter, we shook our heads and shrugged our shoulders and trudged on. A few minutes later my right foot felt flat. When I looked behind me there was a huge chunk of my shoe – the rest of my heel and part of the front sole - laying on the floor behind me!
We were shocked, but also got a bad case of the giggles. I felt like a total dork! But I kept on – what choice did I have?
The farther we went in the store, the more shoe parts I left behind, and the left shoe also began breaking down. Another large chunk – the left heel this time. Next time I looked, the fronts were beginning to crack so I was trying not to walk any farther than need be – sort of scouting out the terrain ahead and sneaking through the aisles in a more direct route to the checkout aisles and keeping very flat-footed.
I managed to get outside – to find the rain had set in! My daughter went to pull the car around so my feet wouldn’t get wet and we scrubbed the rest of our shopping day to go straight back to her place. I helped unload the car and tracked more shoe parts around her house. When I got home I took off what was left of the shoes – and here’s what they look like now!

I’ve got another pair with similar soles, also older and unworn, so I’m going to get them out and wear them around the house and see what happens! My husband says they dry-rotted from non-use! Who knew!?!?
I guess I am a dork, telling stupid stories on myself, but I just had to share yet another embarrassing moment with you! This did prompt lots of laughter and tears on the way home, since I then had to tell my daughter the stories of the toilet paper and the train!
She may be reconsidering asking her mother to shop with her again!

16 comments:

Studio at the Farm said...

FUNNY story!

Mary Sonya conti said...

new meaning to walk a mile in my shoes; love your sense of humor Deb it's so good for the sole!

Vicki Greene said...

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt!

Teresa Palomar Lois said...

Ahaaahahahahaahaaaaha!!! Sorry Deb but bwahahahahahaaaaahahahahahaaaaaaaa!!!! XD

RH Carpenter said...

There is an old baseball player they called Shoeless Joe. I think now you'll be known as Shoeless Deb for a while :) Thanks for making me laugh. Sorry about the shoes - they looked like good ones.

Gaylynn said...

That is sooooo funny! Don't fret, your daughter won't reconsider asking you to shop again. She will be thinking about what will happen next and look forward to the mayhem ;-)

Jeanette Jobson said...

That's so funny. And I've never seen shoes come apart like that before!

I'd be tempted to contact the manufacturer just to show them what happened.

Ann Buckner said...

*giggle* Cute story but a bit exasperating too, I would think. Bet you and your daughter will remember that shopping trip in years to come.

Nancy Van Blaricom said...

Who'da thunk? Hope your others don't fall apart as well. funny........

Watercolors by Susan Roper said...

Deb...this puts me in mind of an experience we had. We were camping with two other families, one of whom who brought along two of their bachelor friends who were tent camping (the rest of us had RVs. This is an important fact since, at 12,000 feet elevation in Colorado it was freezing cold at night, even in the summer.

Anyway, these two guys started drinking their whiskey around the campfire, trying to warm up. One guy kept moving closer and closer to the fire and finally moved two rocks close enough to rest his hiking boots on and had another drink. He finally announced that at least his feet were warm so he was going to go to his tent. He stood up and the thick rubber soles of his hiking boots squished out to the sides, flat as pancakes! He had melted the soles of his boots! We all laughed so hard at his expression and reactions. Of course, once his boots cooled down they were forever left with flat soles. That was his only pair he brought with him so he wore them like that for another day. Too funny!

These dorky happenings are just what makes our lives so rich, thank you for sharing them. We realize that when these things happen to all of us (and they do!) that we can see the humorous side and not worry about the embarrassing side so much.

Diana said...

love it.. thank you, I'm smiling and giggling now-- sounds like something I would do!,Diana

debwardart said...

Wow - this post really resonated with a lot of people - I'm glad to know I'm not the only one to whom goofy things happen!
Glad I could make you laugh!
Kathryn, Teresa, Gaylynn, Ann, Nancy, Diana - glad you got a chuckle!
Vicki - hope your tummy is better!
Sonya - great pun!
Rhonda - just what I need, another nickname!
Jeanette - I thought about that, but they are sooooo old, probably nothing would come of it.
Susan - what a great story! I only had to walk to the car, sounds like that guy had miles to go! He's lucky his feet didn't burn - that'll teach him to drink around a campfire!

Ginny Stiles said...

Dear Dorky...I think we all loved this story because you were SO honest about it and so guileless and just told it how it happened with no fan fare! It is funny and we all have had some dumb thing like this happen...like the time a pair of panty house fell out of the inside of my slacks at school one morning (stuck by static electricity in the dryer). How embarrassing is THAT!

debwardart said...

Ginny - too funny! You are right, we are all "dorks" from time to time!

Carrie Waller Watercolors said...

Too funny!! I think it's great that you shared that story. My step-father has several pairs of shoes, brand new, that have dry rot. Kind of a lesson in life, what are we saving these things for, may as well use them:)

debwardart said...

Carrie, yeah, why wait!