One evening last week, en-route to visit 'N' I decided that having a few minutes to spare I would pop into Tesco, just for a meander. Hey, it's shopping, not very interesting shopping granted but I am female, enough said.
My biggest mistake was in even considering that a pair of their boots might be worth a look.....because it all went rapidly downhill from that point.
I selected a pair of boots, slipped off one of my shoes and poked my foot into said boot to try it on. At this stage anyone who has ever had the discomfort of trying on footwear in this establishment will know that 'pairs' are tied together, which results in a strange hobble to a mirror to check out 'the look', in my case, with one boot on my foot and the other dragging along the floor tripping me up. Believe me, there is no way of lifting it up successfully to prevent dragging it.
I moved all of two meters to the closest mirror, took a quick look, didn't like what I saw and hobbled back to where I had left my own shoe on the floor...only to find it had mysteriously disappeared!
Initially I stood and looked blankly believing it must be their but I just wasn't seeing it among all the stock. I looked and I looked, then I looked some more, then I looked under and around the fixtures and fittings, then I looked slightly further afield and on the racking.... but it wasn't anywhere to be seen!
At this stage, stood in one shoe and one sock (a stupid sock with pink pigs and the word oink all over it, wouldn't you just know I had to be wearing stupid socks on this occasion!)feeling thoroughly confused and not a little silly it began to dawn on me that my missing shoe really was missing. I could think of no other course of action but to ask the nearby duty manager for assistance. Now I felt really stupid!
To cut a long story short, she, myself, security staff and others hunted high and low but nothing, nada, zip, not a sign of my shoe anywhere!
Now, I have experience in retail security and believe me I have seen many odd and unbelievable things stolen but really? One used and still warm from it's owners foot, shoe??? You have to be kidding right?
Wrong!
I think, not knowing quite what else to do and trying desperately hard not to laugh, the duty manager offered to give me the pair of boots I had been trying on, gratis, to at least resolve the immediate problem. Ok, so I didn't like them but at this stage I wasn't, in my one shod foot and stupid sock state, in a position to be picky, so I gratefully accepted and finally left, an hour later than I had planned.
The following day the store checked their security cameras but they hadn't been looking in the right place at the right time so they showed nothing, the cleaners and store staff had been unable to find it - my theory being that as surely no one would steal just one, shoe a prankster may have ditched it in a freezer cabinet or similar for a giggle - it had just vanished, gone in just a few seconds, presumably, but not proven, stolen. Disappeared apparently forever!
Really? Why would someone want just one used, size two shoe??
Whatever, the upshot is that I now have just one of a pair of reasonably expensive shoes that I was rather fond of... and a whole pair of horrible 'synthetic' boots!!
....but yes, ok, it is pretty funny too!
