Imelda's Ghost

Great name for a novel, right? Here is my confession: I have a bit of a shoe fetish. I don't really know how many pairs of shoes is excessive. But I'm embarrassed to report that I have 48 pairs. I have lots of rationalizations for this:

1. Four seasons of professional shoes for work (i.e. heels).
2. Four seasons of business casual, because Vanguard changed the dress code (blame Vanguard!).
3. Hiking books, running shoes, summer slaps, wellies.
4. I used to shop at TJ's and Marshall's, where a good looking pair of shoes could be had for $30--how can one resist?

I'm fascinated by the gap between the U.S. and European figures for per capita fossil fuel emissions (and how much my carbon footprint has dropped since I got here). By U.S. Department of Energy calculations, U.S. per capita emissions are nearly 120% higher than the U.K. figure. Living here, it is so easy to see why. Shoes are much more expensive--like everything else. So you don't buy them on an impulse. Plus, there's no place to put 48 pairs of shoes. Storage is at a premium, so the idea of going out and shopping loses its appeal when you have to figure where your new find will go.

There's also the political dimension. Ronald and Nancy Reagan taught us that shopping is good--conspicuous consumption for all! Then we had George Bush encouraging us to shop away our post-911 blues. The reality of climate change registered in other countries long before the U.S., making such retail-sector cheerleading unthinkable.

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