As If The Rain Were Really Shards Of Glass

I have been wanting to buy rainboots for a few years. I never get around to doing it. I also want new snow boots, but at least I have an old pair. As for rain, I have been wearing just my regular dress boots and hoping for the best. What I've found is that dress boots are for dressing nicely at work, not for slogging through deep puddles. You see, what happens is that the water gets into the boots because they are not waterproof. They have seams and zippers. That is the opposite of what I'd like to happen to my socks and my feet when I have to walk in the rain.

With the threat of rain immenent, I finally headed over to Kohl's. I'd tried Macy's and found nothing. Then I tried Sears and fell in love with two pairs, but I could not find my size in the ones I liked in two different Sears. It wasn't meant to be. Kohl's was next on the list, so I went to the one near the mall, the one that is very large and is easy to get lost in but holds a special place in my heart because that's where I got my wedding dress after fighting with their online kiosk. Ah, memories.

Anyway, I got into the store under cover of dark, dark clouds. I wasn't buying the boots for that day in particular, but they would come in handy if I found a pair.

After about twenty minutes of walking in circles, I found the shoe department. I don't know why it took me twenty minutes. I walked in, looked up at the signs, found the one that said SHOES, and followed the arrow. The problem was that the arrow took me to a cross-section of the store that had no more signs. I took the wrong way and wound up in the bath department and then managed to walk not once but twice in a circle in the wrong direction.

The rainboots were towards the back of the section. They had several styles in several colors. I played with the idea of getting neon pink boots, but scratched it. They were too clunky. Wouldn't you know, I found three pairs that I actually liked? And after trying them all on in size 6, I had to go UP a size? Yup, me and my midget feet, walkin around in a size 7. How bout that?

I settled on a black pair with plaid design in white, gray, and red. I figured I could wear em with jeans, black, gray, and I'd even wear em with brown. In the rain, who cares if you match completely? Actually, students care, especially the fashion ones, but I don't care if they care, so really, again, who cares?

Once I got through the cashier--thankful that I didn't have to do the online kiosk thing--I got down to the lobby before the parking lot and saw that the skies had opened up. So, I sat on the bench in the lobby and proceeded to change out of my sneakers and into my new boots.

And this is where I become everyone else's concern. First, I saw several people pass by and smile at me. I guess they approved of my switcheroo.

Then, a youngish woman passed by, or maybe she was in her late teens. She took one look at my attire and said, Heyy, you don't have no umbrella?????? She was appalled in a sympathetic but also motherly-judgy type of way. She may have feared for my safety, thinking I might be part-gremlin or a witch. I answered a meek, I have a hood. I tugged at the sad, small hood on my tiny hoodie, which is made of cotton, not rain-repellant material.

She kept going up the escalator, away from the now-teeming rain. I guess my cotton hoodie didn't impress her. I tucked my hair up under my hood and put on the second boot.

As I packed up my sneakers, an old man on crutches appeared from, well, I have no idea where he came from. He took a look at my new shiny boots and said, It's a good day to get those! He said it in a very relieved manner, as if wearing my sneakers outside in the rain would have caused him much despair. I said, Yes, that's why I got them!, trying to pull him into an upbeat state of mind.

Then I realized, what the hell am I doing, defending my raingear or lack thereof with people I will never see again? I headed out into the rain and found myself drenched immediately. In seconds, I was soaked. Wet jeans in warm weather is not a very good feeling. However, what felt great was having dry socks and dry feet after running through the two inches of rain that flowed across the parking lot. Good purchase.