“The
lady who has the most shoes
in the end wins!!” a lady I know excitedly exclaimed when she when she
was
explaining why she was attending a shoe sale (name excluded for obvious
reasons). Win what? (I hear men asking) Well, she will just win IT.
Don't ask me what it is she wins; she just wins... it's there. No one
knows what is won but she wins. Period. No questions about it. I don’t
know who cast a spell on ladies that brought forth this
obsession with shoes.
Ha-ha now, fast forward to the many shoes we
see on the streets. I am and forever be amazed at the types of shoes I see
ladies wearing. Now before you throw that glass at me, don’t get me wrong, I am
a lady too and even though I own a few (10-15) pairs of shoes (more to come
soon); I always wonder why we ladies in particular love wearing weird makes of
shoes. Sophistication? Class? I still don’t see the need to walk uncomfortably
and spend several thousands of shillings on something that causes you more pain
than comfort when walking. I like keeping it simple and comfortable. But then
that’s me. Men, on the other hand, have no trouble with shoes…just slip your
feet in there and ensure it’s fitting and comfortable; classy or not.
Anyway, enough of the shoes rant.
Now, more often than not I hear people blurt out the famous statement “Don’t
judge me until you have walked in my shoes”. Each time I hear someone say/write
that I can’t help but laugh. Most of the time, the person saying that is saying
it to defend some behavior or attitude that in fact is spiritually, morally or
socially unacceptable. This statement tends to give them some sort of
consolation that what they did/said was right; only that the rest of the human
race does not understand or know them. I mean; even I have used it severally to
sooth my human ego. In most instances, the statement “you don’t know me” (which
is said with a straight face with lots of bitterness, anger and resentment
towards the person being addressed) accompanies or comes before the famous
statement. 
These days I just burst into laugh
when this statement is made… okay, not burst, I chuckle…. fine; I smile (with a
cheeky evil laughter inside) and wonder, before we make such a statement; do we
ever examine ourselves and see if we even have the proverbial shoes? And if we
do; are they fit for anyone to walk in? Are they walkable? (Yeah; I just
invented that word…I’ll patent it :-p). See, most of us complain that others
judge us without knowing what we had to do to do what we did (are those lyrics
to a song? I regress). Coincidentally, it’s mostly a lady who is saying that.
Lately, most of us ladies have been reduced to wasting our inner beauty, wasting
away our souls, in a bid to please others (read men). So damaged are we that
these proverbial shoes that we say people need to walk in before judging us;
have been reduced to dust. We are walking bare footed.
So lost in the world are we that
we do not even think of how our children will be; how they will grow up. We
need the grace of God. Even though I have never heard many men say that (except
when they are caught cheating or lying), we all; men included, need to examine
ourselves more and see why we want to be so self-defensive and want to justify
that which was obviously wrong.
So, the next time we (I included)
are tempted to use the statement “Don’t judge me until you have walked in my
shoes”, let’s ask ourselves, do we even have any shoes or are we walking around
bare footed? If we do; are they walkable? Let’s examine our spiritual, moral
and social selves and see why we are being so defensive.
Twitter: @deekareithi
