Fancy Footwear

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring — and this girl needs a pair of rain boots.

I've spent the last three years in Las Vegas, where the average yearly rainfall is 4.1-inches. (seriously! I'm not making that stat up!) I think it has rained more in the week and a half that I've been in NYC than it did during my entire time in Vegas.

"I think I'm going to have to break down and buy rain boots!" I texted a friend who also lives in New York and has been weathering this, um, weather.

"You def do," she replied, then suggested I pick up a pair of Hunters ASAP.

"Hunter boots are the best," she assured me. "You can consider yourself a real NYer as soon as you get them."

Now, if it was a commercial that told me buying Hunter brand rain boots were the true sign of a modern Manhattan woman, I would've boycotted the boots immediately. But since it was my friend, I believed her. I made a mental note to buy the first pair I saw.

I haven't purchased rain boots since I was in sixth grade — and even then, I'm pretty sure it was my mom who did the purchasing. Long story short, I had no idea how much a pair of Hunter boots was going to cost. I figured a regular pair of no-name boots was probably $25, so I did the math (multiplied what a normal pair should cost by three) and figured they'd be $75.

$75. For rain boots. AKA rubber boots... boots made of rubber, not leather. Ridiculous! I thought. What have we come to, spending that much on rubber boots? There are people who don't make that much in a month!

...But the rain kept coming, and my altruistic ideals went down the storm drain. And I needed to get some boots before I destroyed every pair of regular shoes I own, so I logged onto Zappos.com and found a pair of Hunters that I liked. They were beautiful: sleek, black, knee-high boots with a slight heel and a cute little strap around the ankle. They even had a name: Andora. I liked the sound of that.

What I didn't like was the price: $175.

$175?!? My eyes widened, half in disbelief, half in horror. Hunters, as it turns out, are the Manolo Bhlaniks of rain boots.

Who pays $175 for rubber boots?

Well, I do, apparently.

My frugal great grandmother (and, hell, most people I know!) would be so disappointed in me. I should know better! I shouldn't buy into it! Dumb, dumb, materialistic girl! Rubber boots aren't a status symbol! They're boots! Made of rubber, remember?!

[dramatic sigh]

OK, back to work. After all, momma needs [to pay for] a new pair of shoes...