My life has been extraordinarily uneventful. Which has been very nice and relaxing. The obvious consequence is that I have virtually nothing to write about. Que sera.
Last week I decided to go to Boston for a few days. I stupidly did not check the weather forecast - apparently Boston decided to do a "Let's pretend it's winter again!" weekend. All I had was my denim jacket. And sandals. I could hardly get out a sentence since I was shivering so much.
Last Friday I had some time to kill before meeting some friends. I had no desire to walk around outside, so I went into a shoe store. I needed to buy a pair of flip flops for an upcoming trip, and began browsing. However, this store sold really expensive fancy schmany European shoes - High end Reef flip-flops for $50, and something called Rainbow flip flops for $70.
Now, I know sometimes you have to pay for quality. But being a desi, paying more than $1 for a pair of Bata chappals seems sacriligeous. Anyway, I probably sat around and tried on five or six pairs of flip flops. I didn't have to ask for the size as the shoes were all hanging on freestanding racks.
While at the store, I spoke to my mom on the phone for a few minutes. All in all, I must have been there for a good half an hour. I headed toward the door to leave, but still felt cold. So I lingered by the entrance and looked at some other shoes.
And that's when I realized that four rather large and intimidating men (I think the store owners and employees are all Turkish) - were looking at me very intently. At first I was a bit nervous, and then it hit me:
They thought I was a shoplifter. I had a big shoulder bag with me, I had been browsing and trying on expensive sandals that were easy to swipe, and a spent a good amount of time on the phone. I checked the door: no security walls. They had to monitor shoplifters the old school way - by staring them down and then chasing them down the street.
I knew I had to get out of there. I wondered what would happen - would they stop me and ask to check my bag? Would they follow me? Who knew. And for some reason, I was feeling a little cheeky. So right before I left the store, I turned around and looked the 4 thugs right in the eye and then strutted out of there.
And that was the most exciting thing that happened to me in the last two weeks. Hmm ... I should rent a video or something.
1 comment:
wow, i can't believe they have $70 flip flops just hanging on a rack. if it's that expensive maybe there should be just one display model, and the rest should be kept in the back! and why were they $70?! i know birkenstock sandals are expensive,but werent' these just thong flip flops? did they have magic powers? baffling!
i can almost imagine this scenario as you wrote it. all that's messing is for you to have giant insect-eye/marykate & ashley olsen sunglasses, then you would have looked like a TOTAL criminal:)
Post a Comment