Dear Abby: I am a clerk in a shoe store. The letter you published a while ago from a medical assistant in a foot clinic, complaining about the shoe requirements for flight attendants, caught my attention.
While I know nothing about the shoe requirements for flight attendants, I know that every dress shoe for women that has a 1 1/2-inch heel is considered a high heel. (It is a low high heel, but it's considered a high heel in the shoe trade.)I see women every day with foot problems that could have been avoided had they worn the proper size shoes. Many women don't want to admit that they need a larger or wider size than what they have been accustomed to wearing.
Cramming the foot into a shoe that is too small can cause corns, bunions and hammertoes - not to mention leg and back pains.
Most women do not realize that their feet have a tendency to widen over the years, and that pregnancy or a significant weight gain can affect their shoe size.
Also, it is not uncommon for one foot to be larger than the other - in which case, the larger foot is the one that should be fitted.
Abby, please stress the importance of wearing only shoes that fit, because foot problems caused by ill-fitting shoes are painful, costly, inconvenient and preventable. Sign this . . .
When Your Feet Hurt, You Hurt
All Over
Dear When: Thanks for a letter to which many women will relate. And be assured that there is a special place in heaven for shoe clerks who have never sold a pair of shoes to a woman unless they fit properly.
Dear Abby: When I read the letter from Arlene E. Differding of Summerville, S.C., I saw myself! She wrote about people who RSVP'd in the affirmative but failed to show up at the wedding.
I was married three months ago, and the same thing happened to me. Even though 85 people had sent their acceptances two to three weeks before the wedding, I called them three days before to reconfirm, and they all said they would be there.
Well, 45 people showed up! It was very upsetting. The bill for my reception could have been cut in half, but the caterers allowed only a 3 percent reduction for no-shows.
When I asked the no-shows why they didn't attend, their excuses were: "I forgot," "I couldn't get off from work," "I lost my invitation and didn't know how to get there," or "I wasn't sure what time it was being held."
- Mrs. Brown in Virginia Beach,
Va.
Dear Mrs. Brown: I never cease to be amazed at some of the letters I receive dealing with invitations, acceptances and no-shows. Read on:
Dear Abby: What do you do when you invite a couple to a wedding and reception and you address it to the couple, and on the RSVP card where it asks how many are attending, they include three or four children? How do you handle this?
- J.C.A.
Dear J.C.A.: I would telephone the couple and tell them, "I am unable to accommodate the children." And by the way, I think that asking, "How many are attending," is sometimes perceived as an invitation to bring along uninvited guests. (It's not!)
Good advice for everyone - teens to seniors - is in "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)