The Shoe Fits, But...

A few months ago I was alerted by my non-blogging sister, Allyson about a great deal. This GDA (Good Deal Alert, as she called it) was for a pair of Heelys shoes for $25. Don't know what Heelys are? Have you ever seen those kids zipping around the mall on their rolling tennis shoes? Those are Heelys and they are very popular with the kiddos.

Normally Heelys sell for around $55 to $70, so I thought that $25 sounded like an offer I just couldn’t refuse. There were 2 shoes at the sale price: one was pink and white, the other blue and white. The fact that the style was called “glitter” only caused me a moment’s pause. Blue was a boy color, right? The blue ones must be boy shoes. Ethan will love them!

The shoes were ordered, the shoes were delivered, the shoes were stuck in a corner in the back of my closet to await Christmas or birthday. All was hunky dory until the other day, when non-blogging sister Allyson mentioned the shoes she’d purchased for her daughter during a phone conversation.

She mentioned there was a pair of glitter laces and I should check my pair of shoes and possibly remove the glitter laces so Ethan would not be under the false impression that his Heelys were “girl” shoes. So, I opened the box.

Hmm, there were RHINESTONES on the shoes. Yes, rhinestones. I racked my brain to think of when I ever saw rhinestones on anything “boy” related. The answer: Never! The glitter shoelaces were there too, but clearly the least of my worries. I was looking at a pair of powder blue and white girl's Heelys.

Allyson suggested a little shoe alteration with a Sharpie to disguise their feminine origins, but I could not bear the thought of sending my son to school in girl’s shoes. We all saw the abuse Michael Scott took on The Office when he came to work in a ladies suit! (OK, maybe not all of us saw that, but trust me; it was hilarious, and so embarrassing.)

I decided I needed to unload the shoes, so I sent an e-mail to all my friends who might possibly have daughters hoping for a pair of rhinestone studded, powder blue, glitter Heelys. I offered them for $29.97, which was the exact price I paid including shipping. I had one person interested almost immediately. In fact, I thought I’d definitely unloaded the shoes.

When she decided not to buy the shoes a little later, I posted them on Craigslist for $40. Robert was pretty excited at the thought of making a little profit on the shoes. Well, we will see if that happens. This morning a potential buyer is stopping by to look at them. Hopefully those rhinestones will dazzle her into parting with forty bucks. If so, it would be my very first Craigslist sell.

Wish me luck!