Staffer walks in her husband’s shoes

Up until recently, I regarded men and women as different but equal. I consider us basically the same in theory except for men are hardwired to think of boobs and football and women are more hardwired to think of other's feelings and shopping. 

However, after a recent discussion with my husband I finally had the epiphany: ‘Men and women are not alike at all. We are different, we think differently.' 

We were packing for a weekend trip. Patrick (my husband), threw a pair of sneakers by the door and slipped on his flip-flops. "I'm ready when you are," he said. 

I sighed, loudly and exasperatingly. "Seriously? You are already packed and everything? Men suck." 

Patrick just laughed and responded, "Yeah, I do suck." Then he proceeded to drop in front of the Xbox and start playing a game. 

I suppressed the urge to growl and went back into the bedroom.  A few hours later I was packed. "OK, Patrick I'm ready. You can start packing the car now," I yelled over my shoulder as I scrambled towards my closet. 

"Lets go, everything is packed," he called out mere minutes later. 

"Not yet, I'm picking shoes," I said. 

"Just take these sneakers and wear your flip-flops," replied Patrick grabbing my nicest sneakers. "O—okay," I said instinctively glancing around and grabbing a pair of comfy slip-on loafers and a pair of stiletto heels. 

Patrick looked at my hands full of shoes, as I came out of the bedroom and laughed. "What?" I said, "I decided I need a few more pairs, you know, in case we go to dinner or something." My husband wisely said nothing and just smiled. You see, he is used to this. I do this every trip we take. I pretend not to pack very much and he looks the other way when I bring 8 pairs of shoes for a weekend trip. Yes, I've really done that.  

Shoes is one of those issues. When I moved into my first apartment, my husband (then fiancé) learned just how far my love of shoes stretched.

 "How many sneakers do you own?!" 

"Not that many," I replied. "I have two pairs for jogging, one for hiking or outside work, another older pair for canoeing and one pair for gym. Really not that many." 

Patrick just sighed and rolled his eyes as he tossed another sneaker into my gigantum box of shoes. 

I laugh when I think back to that day; he hadn't even seen how many heels I owned yet. Did I ever own heels: platform heels, kitten heels, wedge heels. I own them all. Not just heels and sneakers either, but also, flip-flops, sandals, clogs, boots, and oxfords.  

That day I counted my shoes; I had over 100 pairs. I have bought at least 20 pairs since then and thrown out maybe four. 

My husband owns five pairs of shoes: sneakers, boots, two pairs of flip flops and a pair of dress shoes.