Flip or Flop

It all began for want of a pencil case.  Of course Riley got one along with her other school supplies about a month ago.  But the one we originally got, it seems, wasn't all that sturdy.  Ergo, when stepped on by a classmate last week, it sort of fell apart.  So I was informed that she needed a new one.  It went a little something like this:  I went to Target last Saturday and picked up all sorts of things (as one so often does when one goes to Target.)  Got home and, as I was unpacking my purchases, was greeted with, "Next time you go to Target, can I come with? I need a new pencil case."  I might have rolled my eyes a teeny bit, but laughed and said, "Well, yes, the next time I go to Target, you're welcome to come along, but I can't say for certain when that will be, seeing as how I just now got home from Target!" 

Later, I was informed that there was a particular case the kiddo had found on line which she needed wanted. So she described it to me, and I promised to pick one up the next time I was at Target.  Went last night to "our" store only to discover that they didn't have the item in stock.  So she asked if we could order it on line.  Sure. We can do that.  Hopped on line last evening and learned...it's out of stock on line!  And in "low stock" in only two stores in the St. Louis area -- O'Fallon and Jennings. Okay fine, the O'Fallon store isn't too far away, so I decided to run by there on my way to work this morning.  

Got there shortly after the store opened at 8:00 a.m., and, as I was walking in...something went terribly awry with my left shoe.  I was wearing my prized Colin Stuart black wedge flip-flops -- which, anyone who sees me regularly can attest, is basically the entirety of my summer shoe wardrobe.  Actually, I like this particular shoe so much, I have it in 5 or 6 colors, but since I wear a lot of black, the black ones get the most wear.  And it seems, I've worn them so much that I wore the flip right of the flop.  Busted.  So, what was I to do?  I was already at Target. Wasn't going to hop back to the car and go home.  I figured Target might actually have a reasonable substitute, so I trudged forward. 

Trust me, you haven't lived until you've attempted to traverse a large box store in a busted high-heeled flip flop.  Let's just say, I moved verrrrrrry slooowwwwwlllyyy.  I'm sure anyone who saw me thought I had a terrible leg injury.  

But I made my way over to the shoe section and low and behold - they not only had a decent selection of flip flops -- they actually had some black wedges!  Not identical to my beloved Colin Stuarts, but close enough!  

Now the trick was to figure out how to swap the fully functional flop out for the busted one without appearing to be some kind of shoe shoplifter, as simply donning the tethered-together Target pair seemed likely to cause further mobility issues.  I was able to carefully untether the left flop from its mate (and thankfully, the price tag was affixed to the right flop.)  So I donned the left flop and proceeded with my shopping sporting a pair of mismatched, yet close-enough, black wedge flip flops.

I flopped over to the school supply section...only to discover that the desired pencil case apparently wasn't in stock at this store either.   I asked the kind gentleman who was restocking the team-wear nearby to check.  He did, and after several moments and some hunting around, ultimately determined that there'd been an accounting error, and they really didn't have any in stock.  

I grabbed two alternatives and headed towards the checkout, where the cashier graciously placed my old shoes in a bag and snipped the price tag off the right flop so that I could wear my new pair out of the store.  Hope one of the cases I snagged will do, because I'm not driving to the Jennings Target for a $4 pencil case!