Trisha got selected to represent her AOPi Sorority, along with one other sister from each class, at the National Convention in San Francisco during the summer before her sophomore year. Some of the other freshman girls were jealous that she got selected, but she had the highest point total in the freshman class of her sorority that determined who got to attend. Her perfect attendance at chapter meetings, work on service projects, including heading up a team to work on a house for Habitat for Humanity, and her excellent scholarship made her first among 90 sisters. Her fellow rising sophomore sister Shelley came in second just 3 points short.
Since Trisha was going straight from Georgia to California to attend a welcoming reception at 4:00PM, she had to dress up for the plane trip. She wore a nice solid blue dress and black dress pumps. Because she had narrow heels, she did not really like wearing pumps - they tended to be a little loose and slipped up and down and caused blisters. This is how she acquired a taste for backless shoes. However she had trouble keeping backless shoes one her feet sometimes as well because of her clumsiness.
Amber was gracious enough to drive Trisha to Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta for her morning flight to San Francisco on Friday. She had a 11:00 class to get back to so she was no able to stay with Trisha waiting on her flight to board and take-off. Fortunately, she had a direct flight into San Francisco so she would not have to deal with changing planes in another airport. It was also good since her plane was eventually delayed about 45 minutes.
At the airline’s front desk, she checked in one bag and took one as a carry-on. Trisha made it fine through check-in and started walking toward Concourse B to find her plane’s gate. She went down the escalator and came to a people mover (basically a flat escalator to allow you to walk and move about twice as fast). She stepped on the edge of the people mover and walked onto the moving floor. As she did the heel of her shoe got caught in a grate where the moving floor met the metal trim and this popped off her shoe. She turned around to retrieve it and a person coming up behind, helped her yank the heel out of the grate.
It was really stuck in there. Since they were blocking the entrance to the people mover, people had to go around and take the unassisted walkway down the middle of the corridor. Some were angry having to take the slow route. The man pulled and pulled on the shoe. Trisha knew she obviously couldn’t just leave it there. Eventually, the heel gave way and the nice gentleman handed it back to her
Before she put the shoe back on she tested the heel and noticed that it was starting to come loose. She figured there was a cobbler somewhere in the airport so she stuffed the shoe in the side pocket of her purse and limped down the people mover. She decided to take the train to across the next span between concourses where her gate was located. People were looking at Trisha’s single shoe probably trying to figure out what happened to the other one.
Once she arrived in Concourse B, Trisha found the shoe repair shop not far away. She hobbled over there and flipped the shoe on the counter and showed the heel to the cobbler. He was able to glue the heel back on and reinforce it with a few nails for $10 in 10 minutes while Trisha sat on a stool next to the shop’s counter with her shoeless foot crossed over her other leg. She replaced the now repaired high-heeled shoe and made her way to the gate where her plane would depart.
During the wait at the gate for boarding to begin, which became over an hour since the flight was delayed, Trisha read a fashion magazine. She sat with her right leg crossed over her left, dangling while popping her shoe against her foot furiously. Her shoe came off at the heel immediately when she crossed her legs in these shoes.
Finally it was time to board the airplane. She was seated on the aisle and was comfortable. She sat with her leg crossed with her foot toward the aisle and closed her eye and went to sleep. While sleeping, her crossed foot relaxed and pointed downward, her shoe dangled then fell to the carpet in the middle of the aisle. A stewardess came by and noticed the shoe and realized whose it was and moved it under Trisha’s legs where she found it when she awoke.
She de-boarded the plane and looked for a chauffeur holding up a Georgia AOPi card. (The National AOPi Organization had arranged for four of the of the rising sophomores coming in to share a Limo to the Hilton Fisherman’s Wharf, downtown, where the conference was being held.) Two of the other three girls were arriving on the same plane, which arrived from Dallas shortly before Trisha’s. Since Trisha’s plane was late, she saw not only the chauffeur but also her two limo-mates - Bonnie from the University of Arkansas and Kelly from the University of Mississippi.
They did their introductions and went to get Trisha’s luggage. Fortunately, it was there so they quickly found the reserved Limousine to take them to the Hotel. Upon arrival, they checked into their room and met their 4th roommate, Caroline from the University of Florida who had arrived earlier in the day. They hurriedly made their way down to the conference room for registration and a time to meet some of the other sisters.
At this time of meetings and greetings, which went for over an hour, Trisha and her new friends mingled and met sisters from all over the country. They had a good time discussing not only how similar their chapters were to one another in some aspects, but also how different many of them were in other aspects. For example, some schools had their chapter house on a floor of a ladies dorm and others had their own off campus house, like at Trisha’s Univ. of Georgia. One thing what was common among the sisters was a dislike for standing in high heels for a long period of time. Trisha was one of dozens of girls standing with one or both shoes off and at their side, or dipping in and out of one or both shoes, or alternating their weight between one foot or the other. Several of those dipping were flexing their toes on the carpet trying to ease the pain or discomfort.
Finally, the group was dismissed for a free evening on the town. They would start training sessions in the morning but Friday night was the traditional night to have fun before getting serious on Saturday. Trisha and her new friends, Bonnie, Kelly and Caroline all agreed to go up to their room to change into comfortable clothes before going out. Trisha put on jeans a UGA Sweatshirt and clunky brown clogs with socks. Her roommates each wore their school’s sweatshirt (even Caroline from balmy Florida) to advertise their school. Four obvious southern belles were ready for a night on the town.
They only had to walk east about a block where they waited a few minutes to catch a cable car headed south to Chinatown on the Powell/ Mason line. AOPi had been gracious enough to give each sister a weekend pass for the cable car system. All four had to stand on outside running board and hold onto the rail since there were no seats available. Fortunately, four people nearby got of at the third stop, so the girls moved along the running board and into 4 seats. As the cable car began to pull away it went from stopped to moving quickly with a jerk. At the same time of the jerk, Trisha swung her leg to get into the seat causing her right clog to fly off into the street into heavy traffic.
Embarrassed and disgusted at her clumsiness, she told Caroline, Bonnie and Kelly what happened.
Kelly suggested, “Bonnie and Caroline, why don’t you two stay on the cable car and go to the restaurant and get a table. I’ll get off here with Trisha to go back and look for her shoe.”
Everyone else agreed, “Sounds good to us.”
At the next stop, Kelly and Trisha got off at the bottom of a long hill to walk up the hill to look for her clog.
Kelly asked, “Do you remember exactly where in the block your clog came off?”
Trisha replied, “ I think we had just passed the last intersection. It’s probably been smashed by now.”
They eventually find the shoe squashed and split in half - basically unbearable. Trisha did not even pick it up. Kelly asked Trisha what she wanted to do, “Do you want to return to the hotel so you can change into another pair of shoes?”
She replied, "Well, it's a long ways back to the hotel and Caroline and Bonnie are waiting on us at the restaurant. I guess a one-shoed girl is no stranger looking than many others around here with the odd colored hair and multiple tattoos and body piercing.”
They re-boarded the cable car and continued to the restaurant. On the cablecar, Trisha asked Kelly if she had ever lost a shoe. Kelly paused and then acted as if she'd just remembered something that had been blotted out of her mind because it was so embarrassing. "Actually, (nervous pause) this was not the same as a shoe falling off and getting lost, (another nervous pause) but I did spend one evening in one shoe back a year or so ago."
"How did it happen?" Asked a curious Trisha as her countenance brightened a little.
**To read about Kelly's shoe loss story, go HERE.**
When they entered the restaurant, the hostess gave her an odd look because of her single clog, but she let them go back to where their other two sisters were already sitting with appetizers and soft drinks ready.
Trisha sat in the restaurant with her shoeless foot tucked under not to draw attention from other diners. They had a good get-acquainted conversation and practically forgot their recent incident. After dinner they went to a Payless Shoe store and Trisha bought a new pair of clogs - she put them on with the strap used this time - just in case. Next, they went down to Fisherman's Wharf and she threw the single clog into San Francisco Bay. Soon afterwards, a seal grabbed it and took it away to play with it like a new toy.
As the girls departed for home, Kelly suggested to Trisha, "Hey, why don't you come over to Oxford this fall for the Ole Miss/Georgia football game. We'll have a good time and tailgate on the Grove."
"Sound like fun. We'll see if I can come."
**To read about Trisha's trip to Oxford, go HERE.**
NOTE: This story can also be found at Legsandheels.
