If the shoe fits.

"Put on your high-heel sneakers, lordy 
Wear your wig-hat on your head 
Put on your high-heel sneakers, child 
Wear your wig-hat on your head 
Ya know you're looking mighty fine, baby 
I'm pretty sure you're gonna knock 'em dead"

Many years ago, actually one of my first jobs, was working in the ladies shoe department at Stix, Baer and Fuller in St. Louis. How long ago? Really long ago as "Stix" is now Dillard's and has been for decades.

My Mom had worked at Stix and knew the right people to help her 17-year-old son land a job selling shoes to women who had only one thing on their minds—try on as many shoes as possible and "possibly" buy at most one pair. Most times they walked away without a bag in their hand and probably thinking, "that young man was one of the worst sellers I have encountered." I was not in it to win it, I was in it to meet girls. Sue me, I was seventeen.

I was recently re-reading one of my favorite books on the service industry called, "It's not my department." The book is yellowed, ripped and just as valuable of a read as it was 20 years ago when I purchased it. In the book there are a number of stories about service—some good, some bad, some heroic—-one story is about Nordstrom and how they train their employees to bring out 3-plus pairs of shoes each time a guest comes into the shoe department. Since Nordstrom started out selling only shoes, and today are one of the most respected retailers in the service industry, I assume they know how to build a business. 

It must have been around Easter time, and Stix was having a big sale; mulling about the shoe department a woman came in (I think she was a woman) and asked if there were any shoes that could fit her feet. I looked down and almost started to laugh—very professional, huh? Her feet were long, wide, and gigantic…almost like a brick of cement with toes. I said, "I think we might, let me check after measuring her foot." (At least of what I recall.) I came back and placed some shoe boxes on the floor; it was just disgusting to look at her feet. "These are the closest we would have to your size, but they might be a little tight." That was an understatement—it was like fitting a mack truck into a compact parking space. She tried desperately to get them on her foot. The shoe material was saying, "This is not going to work."  Sadly she walked away—I felt really bad for her.

It was not long after I learned my days of ladies shoes sales were coming to an end; I was relieved in some ways, but I knew I was going to miss the money I was making. It was not much, but it was something. A few days after I left the first floor, I received a call asking if I would like a seasonal position? I learned I was going to be in the "trim and tree" department—Christmas had come early in the form of a job I knew nothing about. The one thing I remember about that venture was my opportunity to watch a professional shop lifter rip us off big time. At least that's what they thought they were doing. The in-store security was right on top of her; they had come up to me and said, "Do not approach her, we are on it." It was so cool to watch—yet, so sad to know what was going to happen.

Move forward nearly 40 years and today I am still in sales; no I don't work in retail, but I did learn a lot from those years at Stix. One of the most valuable lessons—don't do what you have no business doing. Amen.

The photo above was taken in Western Illinois a few weeks ago. Out in the middle of nowhere was a boot on top of a pole. Who put it there, why would only one boot be on a pole? I have no idea, but for sure, this boot fit better on the pole than the shoes did on that poor woman's foot.

Thanks for stopping by.