Every time I buy new running shoes, I go through this little charade:

1. Vowing to Support Local Businesses, I march downtown to the running store to try on shoes.

2. He never has shoes in my size, a fairly standard 9-wide.

3. I order the shoes on the Internet.

This time was no exception, although I tried really hard to give him my business. “Could you order the shoes?” I asked.

“Oh, no,” he said, “that would take weeks.”

I had mine in a few days.

Whenever I buy new running shoes, I also vow that I’m going to get some color, any color, other than white with blue stripes. They do make running shoes in other colors–not a lot, but some–but never in my size. I don’t get this; why can’t I have hot pink or orange or lime green running shoes, or even white shoes with a different color stripe? When I went on-line I was excited to see that Asics makes my shoes in white with orange stripes, but not in my width. White and blue only. (My training partner wears the same shoes, but hers have yellow stripes. She has enormous feet, and I was amused to see that the yellow shoes are only available in size 12. Can you imagine if other clothing manufacturers started color-coding items by size?)

When my shoes arrived, though, there was a nice little surprise: the tongue was blue. Such a little touch, but one that pleases me whenever I look down on them. Something different!

This reminds me of a story from one of the Little House books. Mary and Laura get to wear ribbons on their pigtails for church, but Mary always has to wear blue ones and Laura pink because their mother says that these are the proper colors for blondes and brunettes, respectively. One morning something happens as they are getting ready for church, and in the darkness and confusion their mother ties the wrong color bows in their hair. Each girl is delirious with excitement at getting to wear the other color. (Obviously, this is before Mary went blind.)

Whenever I recall this story I think how easily children are pleased by some little change in routine. Also, I think about what an uptight woman Ma Ingalls must have been. Enforcing ribbon color protocol on the prairie! Maybe her descendants work for ASICS: “Blue is for wide feet! Yellow is for big feet! Orange is only for normal feet!” and so on.

Maybe Laura was remembering it wrong, though. I tend to color-code Aitch and Minor, but not because of anything I’ve read in an etiquette book. Aitch is quite partial to red, and whenever I buy him something new, I’m mindful of the fact that he’s much more likely to use it if it’s red. Hence, his toothbrush, lunch box, and every pair of shoes he currently owns are red, and Minor’s (just for the sake of differentiation) are blue. I just hope that Aitch doesn’t take up running, because how will I find red running shoes in his size?