Earlier this week Justin and I thought up our million-dollar idea. It was brillant, and had never been done before. We were going to create the first high- heeled tennis shoes. Women could wear them to the gym so they could stay sexy while working out. We would even get a doctor to say they had done a study proving that high heeled workout shoes were actually beneficial to the body.

Later that day I got an email from my mom, linking to an article titled “high heels are bad for you”. The article details a study in which they prove that high heels are indeed bad for you, causing damage to the body more quickly than originally thought. High heels place women at a greater risk of injury when working out, since their feet and legs have been formed to stand on the ball of the foot. When they come down off their heels injury is more likely to occur since tendons and ligaments have been shorted in the legs. Well, what if ladies didn’t have to come down off their heels? What if there was a shoe that allowed your foot to stay pointed during a work out, making the possibility of injury less likely. We had our market.

That evening as I was cooking my spicy mixed vegetables, or “vinaigrette”, I realized I was out of vinegar. I went down to Harry’s Market to pick some up. Harry was down to his last bottle, and I was making a big batch, so I headed up to Summit Foods to check their supply.

Next door to Summit a little thrift shop had just opened. I wondered in to check it out. It was surprisingly cool, much cuter than the previous incarnation. The space was very clean with high quality items, and super low prices. I browsed the boots, but sadly could find nothing in my size.

Then my eyes feel upon them, the purple satin Converse high top heels, with long pale green velvet ribbons. I had to get them! I didn’t care if they didn’t fit, I would find someone to wear them so I could at least photograph them. As I sat down to examine them against my feet, I noticed inside printed a size 38. It seemed too good to be true; I slipped them on and they were perfect. They weren’t comfortable, but the weren’t bad for heels. I could totally handle walking like 4 blocks in them.

Giggling with delight, I brought shoes up to the register telling the shopkeeper how my boyfriend and I had been planning our million-dollar idea, and then here it was! “Oh yeah, those were huge in the 90s!” she told me, instantly dashing Justin and I’s big get-rich-quick scheme. She then began to tell a story about a time she was visiting her in-laws in Italy. As she and her family prepared to go for a long walk together she noticed her mother-in-law had put on shoes like the ones I was about to buy. When she asked her mother-in-law if she was sure about wearing those shoes, as she certainly didn’t look comfortable in them, her mother-in-law replied, “I don’t want to look comfortable, I want to look good,” and damn sexy the little 60-year-old Italian woman looked.

She sold me the shoes for a mere $15, and with prices like that I will definitely be going back.

With laces slung over my shoulder, I walked down the street to Summit Foods, pretending that I’d just had a hard workout at the gym.