Shopping Extravaganza!

So.......

Yesterday the wife and I went shopping to get me some new shoes. Mine seem to be falling apart and all I can do about it is bitch. Because even though I'm 32 years old, I still have some sort of anxiety attached to shoe shopping. Or any shopping really. I just cant see the fun in it like some people do. About the only fun I had during the trip was the wife's giggly school girl reaction to a particular shoe brand name:

I mean seriously, who thinks this is a good name for their company? The only way the name could be any funnier is if some guy named Harold became a partner and insisted his name be first on the box. Think of the ad slogans! "When you're shopping for shoes, the only box you want has Harry Nunn Bush on it." Best radio ad ever. Fucking genius.

But I digress.

So we're out shopping, and I realize that I might just be too picky about footwear. I have a brand I like, and I like to stick with it. I've always been that way. It helps cut down on the decision making. Is that really so bad? When I was a kid, it was nothing but All Condition Gear from Nike for sneakers, and Bostonians for dress shoes. but about 9 years ago, I found the glory that is Ecco. Now, set aside the fact that they're a tiny bit more expensive than other shoes, and just concentrate on the pros: They fit amazing, they last forever, and nothing feels better if you're on your feet all day like those of us in retail. In the past nine years I have had 2 pairs of dress shoes from them (I actually wore through the sole of the first pair after 5 years) and a pair of sandals that I bought about 7 years ago that I still wear to this day though it was probably time to replace them last year. I'd say that's a pretty impressive track record for shoes. What's wrong with sticking with a brand that you know works? In the same amount of time, I've gone through about 3 pairs of Sketchers sneakers, a pair of Nike sneakers, and an off-brand pair as well. And now I find myself in the odd position of needing a more diversified selection of shoes. (You mean I should own a black and a brown pair of dress shoes? Who knew?)

So I was kicking around the Ecco website thinking "Golly! It sure would be nice to see all these wonderful shoes on display somewhere!" and then the wife insists that we go shopping for shoes because we're going hiking this weekend and all my non-dress shoes are literally falling apart. So off we go to the mall in Broomfield, CO! We go into the DSW up there and the wife goes into shoe overdrive, but I can't find anything I'm too excited about. When we go into the mall proper, we find a gem of a store called The Walking Company that actually has all the Ecco shoes on display! Dress shoes, sneakers, sandals, Ecco's insanely light hiking boots, they had it all. It was as though I had reached the promised land. All I could think was how I could have gotten a pair of everything they had there and been blissfully happy. But then the downside of Ecco hit me. They're expensive. Not really all that expensive when compared to the top American name brands, but still more expensive than my broke-ass can afford when needing about 3 or 4 different kinds of shoes at one time. Ugh. Why am I so picky? Why must quality cost so much? Damn Euros. So I didn't get any shoes that day, went home empty handed, and cried myself to sleep pining for all the wonderful shoes I can't have and refusing to compromise with a lesser brand. Dilemma.

Ah well, at least I got excited about shopping for a little while.