The One About the Bloody Stumps (and the Sweet Husband)

Ever seen a movie where they remove the boots of a man whose suffering from war wounds and they feet are just bloody stumps? And, then they have to decide whether to cut off his feet or not?

I do not take those movies lightly, but I'll share with you my story about bloody stumps.

Every summer, I go through this phase of wanting to wear high-heeled sandals of some kind, and then I practically kill my feet by putting them up to the challenge at least twice a week. I think, "Oh, I'll get used to it. I mean, look at all those other women who walk around in high heels every day. If they can do it, so can I." Problem is that my feet never do get used to it, and I end up wearing more bandaids that I can count on each foot, and I probably spend more on boxes of bandaids than I did on the sandals themselves.

Then, this January, after coming back from our winter vacation, we went shoe shopping for Suk. But, I found these terrific (low) high heels on sale and I tried all of them on before I finally settled on a pair I liked. I had never owned ultra-pointy high heels before, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to really style it up this winter.

I have only worn them three times, counting today. Each time, I have done the unthinkable - what Christine really hates - I wore them with jeans. Oh, the horrors!

So, today, since Suk and I were going on a date, I wore them because he really likes them. Typical, right? He thinks the clickety-click sound is sexy. I had to walk to the train station because my bike is still parked at work, but I walked evenly and slowly, and I actually made it without too much pain.

I had to run up the escalator to catch the train. Then, stand on train. Okay, still doing fine down there.

I met Suk at the station of our hangout and we walked over the our favorite curry restaurant. Walking a bit slower, but still managing.

We ate buffet-style lunch. Avoiding having to get up and walk anywhere. Asking Suk to get stuff for me sometimes.

Walked back to our favorite coffee shop and sat outside on the benches for a while. Sitting down so everything is a-okay.

We went to a furniture store nearby to (ONCE AGAIN) check out their bookshelves. Ow...pain...sit down on this here nice sofa...yep, just trying it out...okay, how about this one...no, I like this sofa better...good feeling...ow...ow...pain in foot.

Walking back to our coffee shop, I was going much slower, sort of dragging one foot behind me. I said, "Gee, I don't really want to go home yet. Can we stop and have some coffee first?"

"Your feet hurt, don't they?"

Damn, how did he notice?

We sat at the coffee shop for over an hour. My feet resting on the top of my shoes. It started to rain outside, so it gave us the excuse to stay longer.

But, then, Suk's mom called. Where the heck are you? I'm waiting for my bird!

Oh yeah, as a side-note update, Suk and SIL ordered another bird for their mom as soon as the first one ran away. It finally came into the pet store today, and Suk insisted on going to pick it up and bringing it to her personally. He also wanted to pay for it...out of his own allowance. That's a good boy...

So, back to reality, we have to go back to our station, trek over to the pet store by bus, get the damn bird, and somehow take it to his mom's house. It's at times like these when I really wish we had a car...or that I wasn't wearing high heels.

We go to the station, wait for the train, go back to our station, catch a bus to the pet store, which is quite a long walk from the bus stop, mind you, and by this time it is PAINFULLY obvious that I will not make it the rest of the evening if I have to walk anywhere.

At the pet store, we take a look at the bird, Suk pays for it, I sit on a bench and watch the caged dogs for a while, Suk calls his mom and they decide to go get the bird themselves the next day. No more worries about the bird, but Suk is depressed because he really wanted to take it to his mom himself. Damn shoes!!

After that, we walk across the street to the little shopping mall and buy some food for dinner. I can barely make it around the store. All I can think about is how bloody my feet must look by now. Meanwhile, Suk, who has somehow developed MY fear of public toilets, can only think about how badly he has to use the toilet. Both of us are crabby, but trying not to blame each other for it. (That is truly a positive sign that things are improving in our marriage!)

Then, we begin the long walk home (okay, about 10 minutes if you are wearing tennis shoes), but to me, it seems like a lifetime. Halfway there, I begin walking on my tippy toes, kind of like Barbie. If it was a hot, summer day, I would have just carried my shoes and walked barefoot. This was going too slow, and Suk, who still needed to use the toilet, said, "You are never ever going to wear these shoes again." Clickety-click sound isn't so sexy anymore, is it, my dear?

I kindly offered that he go on ahead, but he stuck with me...and he didn't yell at me or cuss me out. (Another good sign!) About 2/3 of the way home, he took off his left tennis shoe and offered it to me. Then, he put my left high heel on (I am sure that his foot barely fit inside it), and we walked on like that for about 5 minutes. This time he was walking a little slower than me, but oh god, MY left foot felt instant relief.

Then, he couldn't stand it anymore, and he offered to trade so that he could wear my right high heel and I could wear his right tennis shoe. Since we were very nearly home by that time, I gave him his shoe back and wore by high heel from hell back to our apartment.

So, the question is...will I ever wear those bloody-stump-makers again? Probably, but I will be sure to pack lots of bandaids and maybe an extra pair of tennis shoes in my bag.