Shoes

I was on Facebook, trying to be social on the social media website, when out of the corner of my eye I saw an ad for Zappos.com low on the right side of the page. Animal print high heels with the toe out. They looked so 2011 and so 1940s at the same time. So feminine and so sexy. So womanly and so girlish. I wanted them desperately.

But I had already exceeded my budget for shoes, and last year I got a pair of animal print clogs, which I love and have no regrets about. I'd promised my mom my shopping spree would be over. I had to be a good girl. So I copied the photo and posted it on Facebook with the message, "Somebody please help me."

Susan B. was the first to respond. She thought I should buy them. "Go on," she said, adding "He, he, he, he." She repeated her urgings several times, and when I admonished her, telling her I had asked for help, she said, "I am helping you."

W., one of my gay friends posted, "I know I play for the other team, but something wonderful happens to a woman's leg when she puts on a shoe like that." He, too, thought I should by them. A couple of straight guys who obviously aren't leg men checked in and said nobody cares what kind of shoes you wear. Men don't look at that. I begged to differ. All the men I've known well have been leg men with a great appreciation for the shape of the female leg. They would agree with W. My niece A. said her husband would love it if she wore shoes like that all the time.

Readmore and my new red shoe

Elizabeth said they would be bad for my back. I had to say, I know, because I already have a red pair just like them, black heels, toe out and all. (And a brown pair.) Here's my cat Readmore and one of my red shoes the day they arrived. He loves shoes as much as I do.

All in all I got almost 50 comments and about 10 "likes," the most I have ever gotten for anything I have ever posted on Facebook. Men and women, straight and gay, spenders and savers, pro and con, all joined in to voice their opinions as to what I should do and why. I had a blast.

I went to the Zappos website and keyed in animal prints and not very many pairs of shoes came up. There they were, so easy to find, so cute, so pretty. And not very expensive at all. The next day, a friend came back and posted that she had ordered a pair for herself. She could hardly wait to wear them with jeans, a cream sweater, and a wide black belt. Sounds good. But in the end, I decided not to get them. Yet.