I always use shoe analogies to describe people and situations in my life. Some relationships are like wearing shoes that are too tight. An annoying person feels like a pebble in your shoe. Some people need to be resoled or are too stiff.
Shoes are at our base.
They are part of our foundation.
They protect our feet and keep us warm. They carry us far. Nowadays, shoes are hi-tech. They can
make us fast, slow, track the number of steps and calories burned, correct our
posture, shape our legs, make us taller and make a statement. So, I get it but what’s this “other
shoe” and why are people waiting for it to drop? It sounds
ominous like a storm coming. Are we bugs and the other shoe is dropping to
smash us? Do we know for sure it’s going to drop? Who’s dropping
it? I have to say it’s so absurd I
can’t wrap my head around it. It
reminds me of the story of Chicken Little and the sky falling.
I did some research and found the following. It actually means to wait for the unexpected. Its source is said to come from the following story.
In the late 18th century during the manufacturing boom in NYC a man comes in late at night to a lodging house, rather the worse for
wear. He sits on his bed, drags one shoe off and drops it on the floor.
Guiltily remembering everyone around him is trying to sleep, he takes
the other one off much more carefully and quietly puts it on the floor.
He then finishes undressing and gets into bed. Just as he is drifting
off to sleep, a shout comes from the man in the room below: “Well, drop
the other one then! I can’t sleep, waiting for you to drop the other
shoe!” This may come from music hall or vaudeville, though it would
seem that nobody has been able to tie it down more precisely.
So, for those waiting for the other shoe to drop…just turn it into a flip-flop and when it drops it won’t hurt or better yet forget the other shoe. You’ve got two shoes on your feet. Spend time walking somewhere fabulous and anticipate something wonderful in the unexpected.