The sandalet saga

Hypothetical sandelet

Ahhhh, summertime--how nice it would be to have a pair of sandals to wear! Oh wait, I still have gigantic, godzilla size feet unlike the rest of the female Turkish population (strangely enough there are three of us monster-footed women in my office). What to do...

In one of my wandering walks around Sarıyer, I noticed that one of the shoe stores on a side street had a sign advertising they could order small or large sizes. Well, then, I went in and browsed. Most of the shoes had scary high heels, but there were a couple pairs of sandals with reasonable wedge soles (not as nice as the image above, though). 

I managed to ask whether they had the sandals in size 42, and the owner dutifully performed the "shock-and-pity" reaction, staring down at my feet in case I had simply gotten my Turkish numbers confused. No, they didn't have them in stock, but they could be special ordered. The price was reasonable, so I said yes. He told me to come back the following Tuesday, but since we would be in Trabzon that week, I told him I would come back the week after next.

On Monday of this week, I went back to the store. He was on the phone, but he stopped for a second to tell me, "Yarın," that is, tomorrow. On Tuesday, I returned around 5pm. When he saw me come in, he said that he needed to make a phone call. He reported back that the sandals would be in the shop by 7pm. I said, OK, I'll come back tomorrow. On Wednesday, I returned and told myself that if the sandals weren't there this time, I would quit chasing after these non-existent shoes. This time he said that the shoes came, but the shoemaker put a heel on the sandal, not a wedge. We both agreed that wedge was better, and that is what I originally wanted. He then said he would personally go to the workshop and see that the sandals were made with a size 42 wedge sole. Got me! At least this time I got a business card with his name and phone number. 

But, I wimped out about actually calling...and went back to the store two days later. As I was walking down the street, the store owner was outside, and he told me, "Olmadı" -- It didn't happen. Apparently, the size 42 wedge soles were not available after all. I guess I should be grateful that he finally said so...