I got two pairs of shoes at Payless yesterday. One of them was $33, but they’re work shoes, so they have to be nice. (I do notice Payless prices have crept up from previous years, though.)

The other pair is sneakers, which I need because my old ones were ripped
and letting in water. When I found a pair I liked, though, I noticed there was crud on the soles. Somebody had worn them, picked up dirt, and returned them. Ew! Even worse, some employee had taken them back, AND put them back on the shelf!

Now, saying I mind isn’t quite accurate. I am bad at buying shoes that really fit well, so I’ve been stuck with shoes in the past that I couldn’t return because I had to wear them for a day to find out they hurt my feet. And besides, as soon as I put them on, they’re going to get dirty, so who cares if they start out that way? But I just find it really, really odd that these shoes were available for sale.

I asked at the register for a discount, and the kid was dumbfounded. He said this had never happened before, and he didn’t know if he could do anything about it. I finally said “how about 10%?” He asked how much it would be. The register showed $32.99, so I performed the very difficult calculation and told him it was $3.30. He gave me $4 off, probably because he couldn’t figure out what 32.99 minus 3.30 was. So I got the shoes for $27.99, though I probably should have tried for more. Oh well. They’re neat shoes at least!