Payless Comes Through

I was chatting with a friend the other night, and the topic came around to validation. I conceded that this is the source of much of my frustration, a lack of opportunities to be validated as a proper Leslie. And then I remembered a recent trip out in which I was treated as one of the girls.

When I purchased the bootines pictured at left, I bought another pair of heels at the same time. These were an open-toed, open vamp black pump with rhinestone studs. They were designer shoes that Payless was pushing at a large discount. Good looking shoes, and affordable. Go for it. Well, designer doesn't equal comfortable. Maybe they just weren't right for my feet, but they were quite painful to walk in. An in-store return was called for.

Several months ago, an older lady had been working the counter when I went in to pick up an order. When she saw what I had ordered, she became quite flustered. Maybe the sexy heels mixed with the straight-laced gentleman before her did not compute. I was amused, she was bemused. As it happened, when I made my recent return, she was there again.

I don't think she remembered me initially. I told her that I needed to return a pair of shoes, and when she opened the box, she started to do a double take, but got her wits together quickly. She looked at me again, and it was clear that she now recalled our last encounter. She commented that they were beautiful shoes, and I agreed, but they didn't fit well.

Do you need another size?
No, no, they are the right size, just painful to wear.
Oh, that's too bad. Would you like the return to go on your credit card?
Well, I thought I might look around for an exchange.

She hurried out from behind the counter, and led me into the shelves.

What size do you take, a 12?
An 11 or 12.
Wide?
No, medium.

She pointed out several nice shoes, and told me that the red dots indicated a sale price. She left me to look. As it happened, another woman was there looking for boots in an 11. As she tried on a pair, I commented that those were really cute. She concurred, but said that the heel was too high, that at 5'10", she didn't need to be any taller. I hear ya, I said, grinning inside.

Soon, the clerk was back again. The other shopper said that she didn't see anything that she wanted. The clerk mentioned that the website has a lot more selection. I chimed in that I always have my order shipped to the store to take advantage of the free shipping, and that you can always make returns at the store, too. I've had nothing but positive experiences with the online Payless. She said that she would have a look, and gave me a sincere thank you.

I decided, surprisingly, on a pair of black slingbacks (one day, I will finally find the perfect pair!). The clerk said that they were pretty shoes, but not nearly as special as what I was returning. She completed the exchange and told me to bring those back if they didn't work.

I was treated as one of the girls during my entire visit, almost unflinchingly. Quite possibly, I was treated better than if I were en femme. I left with a big smile on my face, knowing that I got sincere validation as a female while presenting unequivocably male.