Marilyn

My friend slipped her shoes off to be more comfortable on a recent NY-SF flight. When she went to put them on again, only one could be found.

She checked in front, behind, and to the side -- no shoe. She waited until everyone else had deplaned and enlisted the aid of the flight attendant in her search, but still no shoe. She thinks it slid forward into someone's open carryon and they unknowingly walked off with it. Any other theories?

(Just when you thought you'd heard everything...)

Anonymous

I think it was no accident, I think she must have been sitting near some shoe fetishist who made off with it.

vacationdreamer

Clearly a terrorist plot of some sort. They're testing out shoe-stealing techniques, because one day will steal everyone's shoes on-board and then cover the airport floors with nails and broken glass.

Kal

I lost my shirt in a casino in Tahoe once...that count?

FainaAgain

Marilyn, your friend should count her blessings instead of complaining! Just think - what if she'd lost a skirt?

Sorry I know you want me to be supportive

rkkwan

My dad had switched one of his shoes with a fellow passenger once. Which is sad, as basically each of them lost a pair of shoes.

Marilyn

She did feel pretty silly getting off the plane barefoot, and she was miffed because she liked that pair of shoes quite a lot. I guess she should be thankful her luggage showed up so she could put on another pair of shoes before leaving the airport.

gail

During a recent power failure at my office (which is really a windowless glorified closet in the lower level of and assisted living apartment building for elderly) I was caught having slipped my shoes off. I was only able to find one, even crawling under my desk in the dark. Then the fire alarm went off - somehow connected to power failure - and as the nurse I had to collect elderly confused people while wearing one shoe.

Scarlett

Hmmmm, did anyone notice a strange little man walking along behind her, stroking a shoe?

Pumpy

No, but I helped a girl lose her virginity on a plane once...

easytraveler

Marilyn: when I first read this title, I thought for sure it was a troll. See, I am growing up on this Fodors' forum!

Sorry, like Faina, realize that we're supposed to be supportive -

Did your friend ever check back with the airline? Maybe the other passenger returned the shoe - unless it was a shoe fetishister...

Oh, well, back to my late eveniing glass of Chardonnay - La Crema, if you really must know!

Marilyn

Hi Easy -- I thought it was such an odd occurrence that I told her I was going to post it on fodors. She said there was an elderly woman sitting in front of her and it was her open bag she suspected. But the woman was not very helpful so my friend didn't feel she could press the matter.

You can all save your supportiveness for something much more aggravating than this, especially since it wasn't MY shoe.

SFImporter

Now imagine the surprise on the carry-on person's part - reaching your destination, putting your hand into your carryon perhaps to grab your wallet for a hotel check-in - and finding a shoe!

How did THAT get in there?!

cigalechanta

So , I guess we'll just shoe it away!!!

indie

Maybe like the woamn who went to Madrid to avoid facing her husband - one little shoe ran away to avoid being reunited with it's mate

sardog10

Which brings up something I've always wondered about.....ever notice the number of single shoes/boots along the sides of roads? How in heaven's name does someone lose one shoe while travelling at 65 mph along a highway? The other day I saw 3 different shoes along a five mile stretch of highway near us!

Scarlett

sardog, I have always wondered about the shoes I see hanging on wires by the roadside.

sardog10

You know, I was just thinking some more about this. I wonder if there's a correlation between the number of roadside single shoes and airports. Perhaps it's all of those now single-shoed passengers tossing their one remaining piece of footwear? And for Scarlett, I've always figured it was kids tossing their friend's shoes as a keep away kind of thing, but I wonder how many times you have to toss them to hit that wire just the right way

easytraveler

Hi, Marilyn!

I've been thinking about you - have I got a proposition for you and Phil Phlash!

Yep! I'm on my third glass of chardy! Don't blame me, blame my neighbors! They started this with Beringer's! And one glass led to another! Heck! We don't drink on an empty stomach! We had some nuts to go along with the drinks on the patio!

Anyhoos, can I reach you still at the old email address? The idea sounds better with each additional glass!

Back to the shoe problem: have your friend take the left over shoe to Italy - or Hong Kong - and have another pair handmade. Great excuse to travel abroad.

"See, I lost this shoe on the plane once upon a time..."

Marilyn

Hi Easy -- I'm rather fond of that La Crema myself, as a matter of fact. Yes, my hotmail address is still valid, or the other one if you have it, too.

Write me tonight -- you've got me VERY curious!

As for the shoe, I don't think it was worth having the lost one re-made.