OK, I know, it’s corny. But I was inspired. Was in the Nordstroms in Lynnwood, WA (no. of Seattle) this evening, getting my scruffy shoes shined (shone??) so I actually can reflect some iota of credibility with the customers I deal with on a daily basis. I’m kickin’ back in the shiner’s chair, and he’s working his magic. Across from me is the women’s shoe department with a rack sale going on. And it’s utter chaos.

It’s 8pm on a Wednesday night, and there must be 150 women foraging around in the sale racks. Shoes are flung everywhere on the ground. These are some very intent women, slipping candidates for the closet on and off with a sloppy rhythm. The seriousness with which all this takes place borders on silly.

I know, guys have their own foibles, like Craftsman tool sales at the Roebuck, and regular rehashes of endless sports stats from the week’s games of note, etc. But this was funny. The energy was palpable. There was electricity in the air. The chatting and giggling rose up in the store in a weird symphony. Cell phones were ringing. These lovely ladies were even shouting across the aisle at one another.  “Hey, how do these knee-high Uggs look with my new plaid capris?”  This could have been the most entertaining $2.50 I have spent in a while, and all for a premier seat watching a shoe circus  Wheeee!

And I wondered:  What is it about shoes that seems to energize women so?  Where does this collective happy mob mentality come from at a Nordstrom sale, for crying out loud?  Any of the fairer sex wish to comment on this?  Just trying like mad to understand.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Culture, Fashion, Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.