When I was 12 I needed new shoes for the start of the school year. It was a local Catholic school that required all black sneakers for PE. I had hit a growth spurt and my shoes from the previous year didn’t fit. My mom took my to Payless where I attempted to find something. A 10.5 wouldn’t fit even though the shoes I walked in wearing were that size. I tried an 11, then an 11.5 but to no avail. My mom got frustrated and accused me of being bougie for not wanting shoes from Payless.

We left the store with threats of “wait until your father gets home!” He did, we had dinner, and my mom was complaining about me not appreciating what they do for me. My dad was like “well he still needs shoes.” Payless was closed so they were forced to take me to Macy’s. A similar issue continued until the salesman was like “we should measure his feet.” As soon as my foot landed on the measuring tool they understood.

Turns out I was a size 13! I started messing with my mom because she often liked to say “act your age, not your shoe size,” and for this unique moment my shoe size was greater. Luckily that kinda proved that I wasn’t being needlessly difficult or bougie, but rather the shoes I had been wearing had stretched and I was just kinda dealing with it. I ended up with a cpl new pairs of shoes that night.