...Stop STEALING women's shoes!!!...

I am not ashamed to say that I have big feet for a girl. I am also taller than most girls so that hopefully explains it. As a result growing up it was a painful process trying to find shoes that both fit and looked presentable for a girl. As hard as my mom tried I refused to wear any type of heel. After all being taller than everyone already and adding an additional 2-3 inches was not helpful when you’re just trying to fit in.

Over the years the shoe industry has made great strides to increase the size and variety of shoes, consequently I have become somewhat of a shoe collector. If I find a pair of shoes and they are hot and fit…they are coming home with me!!! I’ve grown to love heels. There are never enough shoes made in my size so they are a precious commodity. I admittedly have shoes that sit on my shelf and are rarely worn. I may actually need a lime-green pair of open toed pumps one day, that day hasn’t come yet, but I am hopeful.

SO…there is NOTHING that burns me up more than when there is a MAN in the women’s shoe section trying on shoes and usually heels !!! Well I use the term “man” loosely, a better word may be a SHIM. The first time I experienced this was in downtown San Francisco about 10 years ago. My other tall friend and I happily walked to the back of the shoe store where the large girl’s shoes were. We turned the corner and there was a young man…clearly a man in women’s clothing trying on the shoes. I was appalled. How dare he take some of the precious large shoes of which there is a very limited number. He cowered as if he was a little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. We were so shocked we left the shoe store. That was the day I realized I was not only competing with women for these large shoes…I now had to compete with men!

The next time this happened was also in the Bay Area at a Nordstrom. Two men in their 50s who were not fooling any of us, were dressed as women clumsily navigating through the women’s shoe department. I was infuriated and thought how unfair it was that they were invading the women’s section when they had their own shoe section. They didn’t even look like women… they just looked like old men in old women’s dresses. But I also realized we weren’t competing for the same styles of shoe.

The third time this happened was this very morning here in SLC!!!! I was in a discount store (ok…ROSS in Ft. Union) trying on hats and I looked over and noticed a man, probably in his late 40’s looking at the women’s shoes. Of course the large sizes, if he wanted to try on anything less than 10 I’d say have at it!!! If his feet are that small he has bigger problems…ha ha ha… I immediately started steaming.

His hair was grey and he was wearing a zip-up hoodie and low cut skinny jeans. I watched as he reached for a pair of high heeled ankle boots. Darn bargain hunting cross dressers. He sat down on the bench facing away from me. His low rider jeans revealing several inches of his crack…ahhhh…. As he was trying on the boots I had to hold back. I wanted to scream. How dare he take a precious commodity from a WOMEN!!! I wanted to go over and start throwing things at him and say “you were made a man, be a man…put those women’s shoes back!!!”

He then looked around to see if anyone saw him and tried to cover the boots with other items as he walked to the registers. I was livid. Even here in Utah men are stealing our shoes. The least they could do is shop online so that I don’t have to witness the thievery …I am officially declaring war on all, the cross dressing, women’s shoe wearing men!!! I vow to save women’s shoes one pair at a time!!!