Shoes on the Boardwalk

This may seem harmless enough, especially if they aren’t great shoes, but …

When I was 8 months pregnant with the Island Girl my feet were so swollen that only one pair of my shoes fit.

An old, ratty pair of canvas shoes that I wore everywhere I went, including to a beach party some of the Island King’s co-workers were having.

I’d been up under the pavilion visiting for awhile and then the Island King and I went for a walk on the beach.

We got to the end of the boardwalk and I kicked off my shoes and left them near a pile of other shoes.

After walking for a while we headed back up to the boardwalk and when we got there my shoes were gone.

Gone!

Of all the shoes piled at the end of the boardwalk someone picked my gross old shoes to steal.

I was beyond mad and quite shocked that of all the shoes on the boardwalk, someone picked the nastiest pair to steal.

We got back to the pavilion and there, on the feet of a woman I did not know, were my shoes.

I’d like to say that I handled the situation gracefully but I can’t.

Pregnancy can make you a little crazy and I went absolutely nuts on that poor woman.

“Those are my shoes! I WANT THEM BACK NOW!!!!”

I don’t know what would have happened if the Island King hadn’t grabbed me when I lunged for her.

She stammered a little and her date came to her rescue saying that her shoes had broken and they saw my ratty ones on the boardwalk, figured no one would miss them and she took them.

Everyone at the party was staring at us, the Island King was trying to get me to calm down and that poor girl couldn’t get those shoes off her feet fast enough.

Luckily, one of the guys at the party said “Damn, don’t be messing with a pregnant woman’s shoes” which broke the tension and caused all of us to crack up.

The girl kept apologizing to me and I realized that I may have overreacted just a little.

I apologized to her, explained that those were the only shoes I could get on my swollen feet and that I might be a little hormonal.

The day ended well but over the years we’ve had several pairs of shoes stolen from the beach so my PSA for today is…

No matter how old, nasty or ratty your shoes are, don’t leave them at the end of the boardwalk. Tuck them under the boardwalk and out of sight.