It sounds somehow – but I am addicted to shoes. Hey, you can go ahead and cheer me up for that… okay, go ahead and murmur if that’s what I deserve for this obsession. But the truth is that my footwear collection makes me elated. Do you know what, I organize them heel-height by heel-height, and then style by style? My shoe case features ten segments – it is an adjustable piece. I have my shoes lined up according to heels, styles and types (stilettos, sandals, court shoes … just name them). Right now, I’m counting the 56th pair! Are they really much? Sounds more like an obsession right? Well… I confessed from the beginning that I’m a shoe addict.

You know how it is with parents who have a kid struggling with substance addiction – everyone in my home is looking for who to lay the blame on. I had issues with proper feet alignment when I was a kid; so, both legs had plaster walking casts. My parents are all pointing at the doctor – on my mom’s side, she said the corrective shoes that were always on my feet even when I slept did the havoc.

Here’s the major issue; the mall job I got at a shoe shop was the real genesis of my addiction to shoes. After my initial year in college, I got a summer job at a shoe store; before this time, I had about nine pairs of shoes – which was quite healthy. The store – the Wild Pair was the owner of the store – this made things more tensed for me, since I love this brand.

So, I was determined to surround myself with their shoes – once any of the displayed shoes appeal to me, the next day, it will be sitting comfortably on my shoe-case. It was always a joyous moment for me each time I took a new pair home, and remove it from its container being the first person to do it with the shoe in question. I will run my fingers over the shoes, getting the feel of a brand new shoe; and that, from a name-brand.

Six new pairs of shoes from the store found a better resting place on my shoe case, by the time I was done with the summer job at the shoe store. Guess what, I fully maximized the employee discount to add up to my shoe collection.

Summer holidays over, back in school, the pull to have more pairs could not leave me. My roommate who was also a footwear junkie did not help matters at all – she was my arch-supporter and partner in this obsession. As I speak, the picture of two of us roaming the city is replaying before me – we would set out in search of a shoe-fix all over Boston.

Well, the good part is that we were not spend-thrifts, and we always went for affordable shoes. Don’t think for a moment that we comprised quality – of course, we shopped for price and knew where the discount stores were located! In fact, our regular spots were stores such as Filene’s and Payless. Well guess what? During the next summer, I secured another job with the same shoe store – Wild Pair. Well, this time around, I over did it. Anyway, by the time I graduated, I had different colors, styles and heels you can think of – every cloth had a shoe to pair!

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