When Life Hands You a Broken Heel...

Friday, February 27, 2009

Buy a new pair of shoes!

Have you ever had a day that was just so randomly bizarre that you have to laugh about it? Well, I had that kind of day today. After dealing with Times Square madness this morning and sitting through an excruciatingly boring four-hour taped lecture for the MPRE exam (a professional responsibility exam that many law students are required to take in order to become a licensed attorney) with two ten-minute breaks, I had to endure my first (and hopefully - only) heel break in NYC (very "Sex and the City"). Any woman who has had her heel snap in half while walking in a crowded area (especially in the Big Apple) knows that this is an incredibly annoying and embarrassing circumstance, especially when it involves one of her favorite pairs of shoes! Pre-heel break, I was walking towards a nearby subway, with a heavy backpack, attempting to take off my jacket (it was relatively warm out today) while also trying to pass a group of elderly men and women, who looked down when they heard the very crunchy snap of my dear shoe. I then realized what the sound was, immediately noticed the drastic change in my gait, and I had to think fast! I rushed into a nearby building (a bank), tried to snap my semi-detached heel back in place (which did not work), and then tried to walk with one functional heel with as much grace as possible to a nearby taxi cab to take me back to my apartment.

When I got home, I could not help but think about the whole circumstance and laugh about it, despite a lingering desire to feel incredibly embarrassed and irritated about the whole thing. However, I realized that my desire to laugh about the heel break came from a realization that life just happens - and little situations like this keep it interesting, despite the specific complications of the situation at hand. Instead of feeling really embarrassed, I instead focused on the fact that I was lucky that the heel did not snap in the subway, where I would not have had as easy access to a cab at all, and I felt incredibly lucky that the heel snapped at the end of my day, on my way home. When a local shoe repair shop employee told me later today that the shoe would require a complete heel replacement (and he would have to replace the good heel as well since it would be a completely different heel color all together), I declined putting the shoes through the extended misery and threw them away in a nearby trash can on my way back to my apartment and did not look back, knowing that I could just get a new pair this weekend, fresh and ready to be worn.

What's my overall point of this lovely and somewhat petty rant about my day? If you are going through a crazy situation, try and see the light at the end of the tunnel and notice whatever "good" may be hiding in the circumstance. Perhaps it is a situation that you will be able to look back on and laugh, express gratefulness that you made it through, and move on. And perhaps purchase a new set of shoes as you walk on. ;)