Shoes

I hate having to ask people to return things they’ve borrowed from me. I find it really awkward, especially when it’s something like a book, which I probably am not going to read again immediately but seriously want back on my shelf where it belongs. Somehow it seems petty to ask for it, even though it’s totally within my right to do so. But now I find myself in an even more bizarre version of this conundrum and have no idea what to do.

About a year ago a coworker gave me a pair of shoes. She’d ordered them online, wore them for half a day and felt that they were just too small for her. For whatever reason, she decided to offer them up instead of returning them. They’ve lived under my desk ever since, and I wear them all the time. They’re not comfortable enough to traverse the city in, but they’re perfect shoes to slip on for a day at the office. Last week this same coworker broke her shoe on the way in to the office. After hearing the story of her shuffling here from the subway, I offered her the pair of shoes she had given me, oh so long ago. Sure, they’d pinch her feet, but it was better than shuffling to Aldo on her lunch break. She seemed grateful and took the shoes.

She wore them home that night and nary a word has been said about them since. Something tells me I’m never getting these shoes back. On the one hand, fine. She was the one who bought them after all. On the other hand, I quite liked them and thought they were mine for good. Boo.