The first thing most people do when they get to the beach is kick off their shoes and leave them in a pile at the end of the boardwalk.
This may seem harmless enough, especially if they aren’t great shoes, but …
When I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter my feet were so swollen that only one pair of my shoes fit.
An old, ratty pair of canvas shoes that I wore everywhere I went, including to a beach party some of Troy’s co-workers were having.
I’d been up under the pavilion visiting for a while and then Troy and I went for a walk on the beach.
We got to the end of the boardwalk, and I kicked off my shoes and left them near a pile of other shoes.
After walking for a while we headed back up to the boardwalk and when we got there my shoes were gone.
Gone!
Of all the shoes piled at the end of the boardwalk someone picked my gross, old shoes to steal.
I was beyond mad and quite shocked that of all the shoes on the boardwalk, someone picked the nastiest pair to steal.
We got back to the pavilion and there, on the feet of a woman I did not know, were my shoes.
I would like to say that I managed the situation gracefully, but I cannot.
Pregnancy can make you a little crazy and I went absolutely nuts on that poor woman.
“Those are my shoes! I WANT THEM BACK NOW!!!!”
I don’t know what would have happened if Troy had not grabbed me when I lunged for her.
She turned bright red, stammered a little and her date came to her rescue. He said that her shoes had broken, saw my ratty ones on the boardwalk, figured no one would miss them and she took them.
Everyone at the party was staring at us. Troy was trying to get me to calm down and that poor girl could not get those shoes off her feet fast enough.
Luckily, one of the guys at the party said “Damn, don’t be messing with a pregnant woman’s shoes” which broke the tension and caused all of us to crack up.
The girl kept apologizing to me and I realized that I may have overreacted just a little.
I apologized to her, explained that those were the only shoes I could get on my swollen feet and that I might be a little hormonal.
The day ended well but over the years we’ve had several pairs of shoes stolen from the beach so my advice from a local is…
No matter how old, nasty, or ratty your shoes are, do not leave them at the end of the boardwalk. Tuck them under the boardwalk and out of sight.
