Be like Rachel

From March 28, 2019....

While the Great Sock War of 2011-14 is mostly over, with only pop-up skirmishes every few days or so, picking out new shoes remains among the surest ways to bring on full-scale battle.
Just as I was to wave the white flag tonight in Dick’s Sporting Goods, and buy the way-too-big-size-7s, anyway, Rachel in Shoes said, “I can help, I think. My sister is 13, and she’s the same way.”
She explained how she went to Footwear University—for a whole week! And she knows some special ways to tie shoes that might make them feel not-so-tight.
She brought out 6s, 7s, and 6.5s, Under Armor, Saucony and Asics. She laced and relaced, tied and tied again. She went to and from the back with armloads of boxes, empathetic and unflappable. Only once did D question her credentials.
“So if I go to Architecture University for only a week, will I be an ‘expert’ in architecture?”
“Architecture school takes longer than a week. Footwear school is only a week long.”
“No, she said she went for a week, not that it lasted a week. She maybe is a Footwear University dropout. We don’t know.”
“Fine. Ask her when she comes back if she dropped out or graduated.”
Except he didn’t. He tried on the next pair, and he let her adjust them, and he agreed that they were a good fit.
And we left the store with new shoes on his feet and almost a smile on his face.
Her manager said he knows how good she is, but he was glad I told him.
Here’s to all the siblings of kids “the same way.” They don’t have it easy, but may they all turn out like Rachel in Shoes.