Poor girl and white stiletto boots

[Mickey S.]

Hi! Don't know exactly where to put that so I'll add to the 'For Everybody' section... As I watched TV just the other day I came across a documentary during the usual commercial-break-zapping. There they pictured the life of someone, who was heavily busy saving money in all aspects of live, a group of students who also had to be careful spending money (for a dish washer) and a young 'family' who only had very little money available a month (probably the father left mom and the kids alone and mom being down on her luck - I missed that part...). Okay, what's the point? The thing that drew my attention was that the young family went shoe shopping in order to get shoes for the girls and the boy. One of the girls seemed to be very hooked on fashionable outfits and hence she opted for a pair of very nice white boots. They were calf boots, had pointy toes (not too pointy, but... - you know) and had approx. 4 inch stiletto heels. She could actually walk pretty well in them and the boots also matched the rest of her outfit. However, the major drawback was that they couldn't afford the shoes although they were only 29 €! If I would have been nearby I would have given the girl those 29 € because I do know what it means to crave this stuff and not being able to have or wear it for one reason or another. Poor girl! I really would have liked to help out since she didn't seem to want to have these shoes because they're in fashion right now but it looked like she wanted those high heels for the sake of the (high) heels itself. Oh well, that really made me thinking... CU! -Mike

[hoverfly]

If she is old enought to wear heels she is old enough to get a part time job.

[Dr. Shoe]

The thing is though would they have appreciated your charity or would they have been too proud? Would the mother have worried about your motives? Sometimes you have to be so careful if you find yourself in that situation in real life. A gesture of generosity on your part can easily be misconstrued...

[Guy N. Heels]

If she is old enought to wear heels she is old enough to get a part time job.

An excellent point, Hoverfly!

Most people who know me personally know that I tend to be a rather "soft touch" about such things. But a posting in any third-world country very quickly teaches one that no one person is able to provide even the bare necessities (food & clothing) for the poor and underprivileged of this world - regardless of how much money they might have. The needs are simply too great. Therefore one must learn how to practice "tough love".

Even if the girl had approached me for money, I might still have required her to "work it off" for me by performing some chores around my house, or something to that effect.

[Mickey S.]

That was no third-world report - it was on a German family who have had bad luck... Yeah, I must admit that it crossed my mind that it I might have looked wrong offering the girl some money even if it was just for the shoes... CU! -Mike

[Guy N. Heels]

That was no third-world report - it was on a German family who have had bad luck...

Yeah, I must admit that it crossed my mind that it I might have looked wrong offering the girl some money even if it was just for the shoes...

CU!

-Mike

Well, since nobody seems to be able to tell me just where the "second world" is located, I'm not even going to address what is or is not a 3rd world country.

But my point is - and this remains true, regardless of which world you find yourself in - that merely spreading money around, regardless of how much you may have, is not really the answer to the problems so many people are facing. The universal principles of thrift, hard work, honesty, and right living are foundational to the building and regulation of a proper society. To ignore these principles is to ultimately undermine the underpinnings of a society - usually with devastating effects.

For example, in many Asian cultures the person who brings home the most money is the head of household. So, if a filthy-rich American suddenly decides to be generous and give his shoe-shine boy a big fat tip just because he wants the kid to have a little extra money in his jeans, that could suddenly place a 10 year old kid at the head of his household, thus undermining the established structure and authority of the parents! So one must come to grips with the fact that, even if such disposible wealth exists, dispersal of the money might actually create unforeseen problems that one has never even considered.

I have heard all manner of short-sighted people say that, with enough money, they could solve all problems. Believe me, such is NOT the case! In some cases, the mere presence of huge sums of money might actually exacerbate the problems. Take for example, the oil-rich states in the murder-East! In many cases those countries have more money than they actually know what to do with! But they haven't solved their problems. In fact, at the rate they're going, they'll soon kill each-other off or blow us all to Kingdom Come, and still not solve the problems!

I hope the girl eventually gets the shoes she wanted. But I also hope that she learns that there are more important things in life than fashion.

[Mickey S.]

You're certainly right with your view of the world and I'd second almost all of your statements but it wasn't the intention to start such a discussion in this thread, so if this continues to go on like that this is probably going to be moved to the 'Misc' board section by the admins soon... ;o) What I wanted to point out is that I really felt sorry for the girl since I know this feeling myself. Besides shoes and such I do have two or three more hobbies which sometimes also requires some serious amount of money. In the past there were things I really wanted to have but couldn't bring up the 'funds' regardless how hard I tried to save some. Now that times have changed I'm in the situation that I can actually afford all those things. Of course, not all at once but now it's, you know, basically possible and hence no longer out of reach at all. And that's why I would like to share a bit of that. The other side of the story still is if I would really have gone for it if I was on the 'scene' in the shoe shop... CU! -Mike

[Guy N. Heels]

...What I wanted to point out is that I really felt sorry for the girl since I know this feeling myself. ...The other side of the story still is if I would really have gone for it if I was on the 'scene' in the shoe shop...

CU! -Mike

I too, sympathize with your feelings over this situation. However, experience dictates that sometimes a longer view is necessary.

[Mickey S.]

Alright! ) Yesterday I went to one of the stores of that retailer and actually found the 'featured' boots. Just gorgeous! And, of course, they were only available up to a size that compares to a US women 10, run small and so on... If they were a 12 or 13 with the heel height 'scaled up' appropriately then I would have had one more pair of shoes in my closet. ;o) So I can only hope the girl will make it for some money soon so that at least one of us can enjoy those shoes... ;o) CU! -Mike