As I told you all long, long ago, I am addicted to shoes. Have been ever since the first time I saw a red patent mary-jane. Don’t plan on ever changing. And working on the Nike campus? Well, let’s just say that it’s strange that the words ‘Nike’ and ‘Enabler’ share only two letters.

My list of shoes, since posted, has changed: it should have included PVC knee-high boots (bought in college for a Catwoman costume) and probably vintage mustard sandals (from my mom) to begin with; I exchanged #4 for a smaller, updated pump/oxford of the same line; #19 has graduated to #20 and #21 has been jettisoned, along with #18, which pinched; and I bought have white Franco Sarto slide-pump-sandals (for my sister’s wedding), brown Doc Marten boots, and Nike running shoes.

That was before I came to Nike. My second week, I got free shoes. My third or fourth week, I went to the Employee Store for the first time. I’ve gone again since. I now have [img/articles/free.jpg|image|Nike Free] training shoes of a delectable deep raspberry not currently on the market; Air Illusion tennis shoes (#25 wore out and hurt like the heebies); silver [img/articles/street_maxcat.jpg|image|Street Maxcat]s just for fun (“They’re like…SUPERHERO SHOES!” exclaimed sister sledge); black patent Cole Haan (Nike’s luxe subsidiary) things which are the love child of a ballet slipper and a surfer shoe; [img/articles/shox_rhythmic.jpg|image|Shox Rhythmic] (you try telling a shoe ‘No, no, I want to pass up my only chance in life to be a Badass Dancing Princess!’) and [img/articles/air_rift.jpg|image|Air Rift]s, which are a sort of odd sandal/shoe thing with tabi toes (NINJA FEET!). Why yes, I do set spending limits before entering the Employee Store! Otherwise this list would be much, much longer!

At any rate, Nike is a wonderful place to love shoes. Certainly I think people who call it a ‘shoe company’ are oversimplifying, since while the business started there, I do sit several yards from people designing watches and sunglasses. However, never have I seen so many people watch so many feet. I walk along watching people’s feet…they walk along watching my feet. My boss remarked on two different pairs of shoes I wore last week; my supervisor noticed immediately when I wore the Rifts for the first time yesterday. When I had my Frees, before almost anybody did, people I didn’t even know would ask me about them. What’s-Her-Toes noted my shoes (the Cole Haan hybrids) earlier and said, “Oh, those are Gordon’s work…he’s such a nice guy, as well as a great designer.” Yesterday Loose Leaf Tea Guy (can you tell I know him from the break room?) remarked on my Rifts, and asked whether they were comfortable. He doesn’t even work in footwear! The guys want to kibbitz about shoes here! I’m in heaven!

At orientation, the first week, the Adecco lady said, “While they can’t require you to avoid wearing competitor’s apparel, they request it. Main competitors would be Adidas, Reebok, and Columbia Sportswear.” She said, “Of course, it’s not reasonable to expect you to buy a new jacket or whatever…” a young man interrupted, “What if my only shoes are Adidas?” She looked thoughtful and said, “Well, try to cover them with your pants legs.” (I am not making this up.) I thought she was crazy. I mean, I love shoes, but how many people will notice the marque aux trois bandes, really? I think, as I sit in the campus coffee shop watching the swooshes bob past and noticing someone check out my Maxcats, that the answer is, ‘many’.