call•me•jonah

jonah is becoming a dangerous shopper. dangerous not to the institutions that prey on him, nor to the shopgirls who carelessly flirt with him or the salesmen who flatter him, he is becoming dangerous to his wallet. let me explain. jonah has, for the past few weeks been lazily searching for that pair of shoes that is at once comfortable and cool, drawing glimpses without knowing why. a sly pair of shoes perfect with a pair of slacks. those shoes that you could wear to an interview, to work, to the cinema, but not to the court and maybe not to a wedding (then again maybe to wedding).
but twice now he has left the shoe store holding the wrong pair of shoes. the pair of shoes that had been sold to him by those oh so crafty and kind-voiced salespeople. the first pair he was able to return, having only worn them once and kept them in immaculate condition. the second pair, the three shades of blue pair he's wearing right now. the ones that look like a 1980s ski jacket with sprint shoe soles. the ones that look much more ordinary than the ones he wanted.
but, they were on sale after all. half off. and the girls had been so nice. they were pretty and didn't complain at all when he asked try on so many different shoes. to top it off it was after hours. he happened to walk in after closing hours, but before they had locked the doors. they didn't seem to mind. but all those factors were running through his mind as he looked down at the shoes (the ones almost just right, but not quite, the ones he didn't need) and up at the pretty smiling blonde so eager to help, and down again trying to add up the numbers. she laughed, "those look good on you."
he smiled. "can't beat the price." wiggling his toes.
in the end, there was really no way out but to buy them. even though the ones he really wanted were sitting there a half size too small. he couldn't break the hearts of all those pretty girls could he?
but he didn't really want them. in fact he feels a little like he's betraying his beloved sambas by wearing them. but like i said he didn't have an option. that's why he's wearing them now. as a memorial. a reminder to never buy shoes on sale. to never try on shoes that you don't want to buy. to never walk into a store after closing time. and to never ever ever ever ever let a pretty shopgirl give you complements.