02/03/11
I am determined to take a positive lesson away from all of my experiences, from now on. There will be no regrets, after all, what is past, is past, so there is no point to dwell over what could or should have been done. Instead, I will learn about myself, and about other people through my mistakes, which will profit me in the future.
Since I arrived in Paris, I have encountered all sorts of interesting situations and people, from which I have only acquired a small pool of knowledge. Together, Paris and I have been a dangerous combination of a busy city, and one of those foreigners who is often in the middle of its mayhem. I have quite the collection of stories after only two months, most of which were not pleasant at the time, however amusing they seem in retrospect. I remember the time, for instance, when the lining of my nice leather boots tore, as I was trying on a dress in a Zara. It would have been unfortunately enough if I had only ruined my boot, but the fact that my heel was trapped inside the hole, which was strategically arranged so that I was unable to either remove or slip it, only added to the adventure. Who else can claim that they had the extraordinary opportunity to hop around a Zara in Paris during the soldes, trying to discreetly remove a boot, other than myself, I would like to know?
After much determination involving a pen and my finger, I dislodged my foot from my boot, only to discover that was only half of the night’s battle. Buying a pair of shoes in Zara seems simple enough, and yet, I have learned never to assume, particularly when I am alone in Paris. The painstaking process involved multiple trips, hobbling up and down the stairs with only one boot, realizing at one point that I had purchased two different size shoes, so it was actually a good thing that I had to wear them out of the store! My struggle to find a pair of shoes was only a slight set-back of the evening, and the final scene consisted of Hayley searching for the belt to her coat that had magically vanished during the shoe-related insanity. Needless to say, the Zara’s staff is most likely still entertaining its co-workers with stories about the silly American, who spent an hour wondering around the store with only one shoe! Just in case that was not enough entertainment for my fellow Parisians, I noticed a guy smirking at my feet on my walk home, which is when I realized the white Zara tag prominently hanging from my new black shoes. I still had at least ten blocks to go before I could crawl into my bed, but at least that terminated the day’s excitement, as far as I am concerned.
This particularly humiliating moment taught me a few things about myself, as well as shaped my new mindset not to expend so much negative energy over petty dilemmas. There was a friendly French couple and a pleasant dinner conversation to greet me when I returned home, so it felt silly to dwell further on my embarrassment. After all, it could have been much worse, and my shoe could have torn late at night on the metro, instead of in a store that sells shoes! I handled the situation relatively well, all things considered, and I eventually left the store unscathed, except for the few marks on my dignity, but nothing irreversible. Plus, now I have a comical story to tell at the next awkward mingling party that I find myself dragged to by family or friends!
Hold tight for more of Hayley’s Parisian adventures because the list goes on..
No comments:
Post a Comment