Studies show that 25% of those you smile at will return the smile and of those twenty five percent 10% will smile at someone else. With this information we could start a smile revolution.
The red shoes make people smile. I’m not exactly sure what it is about them (having studied them at length) but I know and accept they have an intangible quality that makes many people’s lips curl upward in a spontaneous lift when they see them. Interestingly they don’t have to be actually worn for this to happen as I recently discovered.
I was at a jammed packed airport security on my way to California to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. I removed the red shoes and tossed them into the tub along with my bag of liquids and gels. I walked over and joined the line preparing to walk through the scanner. “Ooohhhh….pretty shoes,” shot through the air.
I looked over. The starched and pressed female security officer was smiling and either talking to herself or the red shoes (not sure which) as she gently repositioned them to stand upright and perfectly side by side in the tub. Now, I’ve been through hundreds of airport security checks in my time and at no time did shoes have to be so specifically situated to pass through the scanner. But there they were (with assistance) standing at perfect attention ready for scanning. The security woman, still smiling, watched them make their way all the way down the belt.
I was smiling too as I watched the carefully orchestrated procedure. “Mamam….MAMAM,” a male officer was summoning my attention, “please step forward,” indicating it was my turn to walk through.
“Aahhhh Sorry,” I managed as passed security and on to collect my things.
As I slipped the shoes on, a fellow traveler came up beside me, touched my arm, smiled and said in a quiet between-you-and-me kind of way, “I love your shoes…they’re fabulous.”
“Thank you,” I beamed back at her.
I’ll probably never pin down exactly what it is about the red shoes that makes so many people smile. But I’m grateful (and mildly curious) they seem to be sparking something of a smile/happy revolution. So for the sake of humanity (and myself) I vow to continue wearing them. In 2 weeks they’ll be off to Croatia and to Hawaii on another pair of feet. Can’t wait to see who they’ll meet, what they’ll learn and what tales they’ll bring back.
PS/ Not too long ago I contacted RAGG shoes the US distributor of the red shoes. I thought they’d like to know what their shoes were up to and that they had a growing following. I found out the red shoes have a name….. Marilyn. Hmmm….they’re kinda’ feeling like a girl friend. Coffee?
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