Apothegm
It’s the done thing in my neighborhood for shops to put messages on sandwich boards outside. The cupcake one suggests cupcakes to go with the weather or the holiday or the news or whatever else strikes them.
A couple of blocks north, where there’s slightly less foot traffic, a little clothing boutique I hadn’t noticed before had one this afternoon that said
Give a girl the perfect shoes, and she can change the world.
I was sorely tempted to go inside and ask if I could punch whatever genius came up with that.
Give a girl a shoe, and she can walk for a day. Teach a girl to shoe, and–Wait, what were we talking about?
I’m sure they meant a solid pair of hiking boots or some steel toe work boots…
Yet, the shop isn’t talking to the wind.
I’ve read first-person accounts of women talking about shoes, and they do somehow invest power in them.
And it’s not just girls: on the boys’ side there’s an endless stream of advertisement tying sneakers to athletic prowess.
Steel toes can be almost as bad as heels if you’re not lucky… beats having a broken toe though…
Perhaps they were advertising for Share Your Soles (http://shareyoursoles.org/), which distributes donated shoes around the world? Its the first thing that came to mind for me.
Probably not, but one can always hope for the best.
Are we sure that statement wasn’t meant ironically because there is no such thing as perfect shoes?
You can try to pull them up for altering the original “Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world” quote, but I guess for the punching part you’d have to break into Marilyn Monroe’s crypt.
Well, yep. The perfect shoes: the ones that are so comfortable and supportive you forget you’re wearing them so you can get on with changing the world. They probably look like walking boots or trainers.
Wait – you mean that isn’t what they meant?
I endorse Doc Martens for most day to day world changing needs. With the qualification that I find the sole gets dangerously slippery on ice somewhere around -10 °C. Around there, you’re probably better off with Sorels or somethin’.