To-Die-For(?) Shoes

Thrice I learned about it. First from a poster hanging by the door of the Crocs store in Greenbelt 5. Second from the Sunday paper. Third from my BPI credit card bill.

Yes, three times. I took it as a sign for me to go and get my little one a new pair.

We, my husband Nubs, my sister Pie, my daughter Indie and myself, arrived at the venue, a tent somewhere along Meralco Ave., 30 minutes later than the designated time which was 10 in the morning. And to our surprise—or should I say horror— there was a line. No, make that two, one for BPI cardholders and another one for those who do not own a BPI card.

The lines were long and getting longer by the minute. It was pretty obvious the event organizers were unprepared for the onslaught of people wanting to get their hands on a marked down pair of the immensely popular, brightly colored rubber sandals.

They stopped letting customers in by 10:45, claiming that the place was jampacked already, and we were among the unlucky ones left to wait under the scorching sun. By midday the sun had grown too hot and had caused quite a good number of hotheads to emerge from the swelling crowd.

There was a middle-aged Chinese man who issued invectives at one defenseless female staff at the gate. There was another guy who shouted kapal ng mukha mo at a woman trying to get in with total disregard for the queuing public. There was a verbal battle, I overheard, that ensued between two car owners in a contest for parking space. It was utter madness and I was afraid a gunshot would be next!

Was all this worth it? I was about to tell Nubs that we should just go home when the guards opened the doors again and, suddenly, I was inside the tent scrambling for a pair of maryjanes for Indie at 60% off and other pairs for my nephews Bubbi and Mojo and niece Yanna at Pie’s bidding. The effort took more than an hour.

The lines leading to the cash registers were discouraging as well. There were only 12 or so cashiers servicing hundreds of shoppers buying around 6 pairs each on the average.

It was a struggle every step of the way. For people from different walks of life. Whose idea of saving in the face of the looming recession was not holding back from spending but shopping at whatever % savings. Who would risk being out there even when things threaten to get ugly. All for the most comfortable but ugliest shoes on earth.