Speaking of Shoes

I'm going to be heading into the Real Office again next week for a retreat, and as usual I'm looking forward to it: seeing my beloved colleagues in person, having an opportunity to really suss out the vibe in my rapidly changing workplace, imbibing free drinks provided by my fine employer. Ah, this is the life.

There is something that I'm dreading -- wearing shoes for several days in a row. Every time I go into the Real Office I have the same revelation: I rarely wear shoes at home and I pay the price when I strap them on for business trips. It's not that I wear stripper shoes. To the contrary, my shoe wardrobe is strictly from the Sister Mary Frank Collection of sensible shoes. Nevertheless, it seems that when a foot spends the majority of its days in slippers its tolerance for restraint inside a street legal leather-and-rubber device is reduced.

As I see it, I have a few options:

1. Wear fuzzy slippers all the time, even to meetings with the Vice President. (Pros: Continuity for my feet. Cons: Potentially career-ending.)

2. Go on a shoe buying spree until I am able to somehow locate a pair of shoes that feels like slippers but doesn't look horrible on the outside. (Pros: Buying shoes is fun! Cons: Buying shoes is expensive!)

3. Start wearing my Real Office shoes in the home office to re-acclimate my feet to their sensible prisons. (Pros: Ease back into the real shoes. Cons: Feet hurting for two weeks instead of just four days.)

Sadly it looks like it's option three for me. I'll let you know if weaning myself off slippers makes a difference.