(Not a) blue suede shoe

The thing that happened to me one lovely Monday morning can only be seen in old movies by the Dolphy-Panchito comedic tandem. The embarrassing but funny incident will forever be part of my life and will be a favorite topic of the Ka Anang Boys every time there's a quorum to down our favorite cold beverage.

The story goes something like this: I was off to meet an old friend of mine for an early morning breakfast chitchat, but disaster struck as soon as I arrived at our rendezvous point in Valenzuela.

I was already walking towards the roadside bistro where we are going to eat any of the available Silog meals when my shoe (left foot) broke. The whole top portion broke off with the outer sole, which (as I looked behind) I saw there sitting, as if waiting for me, on the pavement.

I am no male version of Cinderella so I quickly picked up my sole (no pun intended, haha!). I can still walk but the problem is I can now feel the concrete street that I'm standing on with only the inner layer and my sock separating my foot from the pavement.

Good thing the people along the sidewalk failed to notice what happened to me, so I quickly picked up what was left of my shoe and hurried back to my car to leave my left sole inside. I had just taken five or six steps away from the parking lot when my right sole also broke off. The guard on duty, who was trying to keep a straight face and not roll on the floor laughing, saw me and blurted out: What happened, sir?

Again, I picked up my right shoe, put it in my bag, and tried to walk toward my friend who was already waiting for me. I informed him then that I need to get home immediately because of a shoe emergency. He can't help but laugh and at the same time be sorry for my predicament.

I was alternately dragging my feet back to my car, I jumped in and quickly drove off to the nearest shoe store where I bought the new pair shown above.