Bronzery

True story. Charles ran a marathon a few years ago. Soon after the race, he ordered new running shoes to continue his running. As a surprise, I decided to have his marathon running shoes bronzed. (OK, well, one of them bronzed - I'm cheap.)

I took his shoe to the UPS store, where the clerk gave me a strange look and asked why I was shipping one shoe. I explained the whole thing to him as he packed the shoe into a box.

Later that evening, Charles asked if I knew where one of his new shoes was. (I had taken the wrong shoe!!!!) All this happened while we were stuck in traffic at 5:45. The UPS store closes at 6:00. Crisis avoided by some very crazy driving to get through traffic, a very frantic phone call at 5:59 and a very helpful UPS clerk who ran out of the store, stopped the truck to retrieve the new shoe.

And here comes the annoying part. The next day, when I switch the new shoe for the old shoe, I notice they look exactly the same. (He never would have known.)

A few days later, I've switched the shoes and Charles now asks if I know where one of his old shoes is.

A couple of weeks later, Charles' birthday arrives and I've got the best surprise - his bronzed marathon shoe. Only by now, the sly guy has realized that he's getting a bronzed shoe because of the two missing shoes. (Who thinks like that?)

Moral to the story? Don't buy him anything ever again. Or, just bronze the first shoe you grab.

The Bronzery