Short Stories

Author – Charlie

My interest in losing my own shoes or seeing other guys losing theirs brought me to this website. Lots of great stories to digest, I’ve only experienced one incident of losing my shoes, it was weird but exciting too. It’s short and brief. Anything else I add will be made up from stories I have read here.

The Taxi Passenger
I had been stopped by a passenger in a taxi, he wanted to swap his trainers for my shoes as he had been stopped from entering a night club. The thought of swapping shoes with a stranger thrilled me. I took off my black laced shoes and handed them to him. Instead of giving me his trainers he told the taxi driver to move off. I stood there in my socked feet in the city centre, I never saw him or my shoes again. I felt like a right idiot at the time being mugged by someone who never even got out of the car. I laugh about it now.
It was the only time I have lost my shoes in public. I said it was a brief but true story. I hoped you enjoyed it.
The following and any future stories are fictitious and based upon stories I have read here. Anyone who thinks it’s just plagiarism can confiscate my shoes as punishment. 😊

Shoplifters
Me and my mate had been to a neighbouring town to visit his cousin. On our way back to the bus station we called in a shop to buy some drinks. A display cabinet near the door contained lots of shoes, particularly trainers. I remembered reading an article online a few years ago about this shop, confiscating shoes from shoplifters. I found it intriguing, but my mate Sean claimed it was untrue and the cabinet was just full of used shoes to deter thieves. We got our drinks and paid for them but as we were leaving the shopkeeper stopped us, accusing us of stealing confectionery. I laughed telling him he was mistaken, Sean didn’t. The shopkeeper stared at my hoodie before removing two Snickers bars from the hood. Sean admitted putting them there, testing to see if the shoe confiscation was real saying he had no real intention of stealing them. The shopkeeper said all he had to do was ask and would Sean have paid for the chocolate if we hadn’t been caught. I noticed the shopkeeper looking at my Adidas trainers, I proclaimed my innocence, but he demanded my shoes regardless. Sean thought it was funny until the shopkeeper told him to take off his Reebok trainers too. We offered to pay double the price for the allegedly stolen Snickers, but the shopkeeper stuck to his policy of confiscating shoes. He insisted on taking our shoes, we reluctantly took them off. We watched frustratingly as our footwear got locked inside the display cabinet along with all the other confiscated shoes. He kicked us out of the shop in our socks like criminals before telling us to come back tomorrow to collect them. Although Sean had instigated our shoe loss, watching him suffer the indignity of riding the bus home in his socks distracted me from my own embarrassment.

Detention
Unforeseen circumstances had me return to my hometown; I began attending a new school which was stricter than my old one. School had ended for the day, and I passed a group of lads stood outside a classroom. I recognised Glen, we had been my best friends in primary school before I moved away years ago. We had been talking for ages before realising I was about to miss my bus. I began to leave when an approaching teacher stopped me and accused me of avoiding his detention class which Glen and the others had been waiting to attend. I assured him I wasn’t, but he said only those awaiting detention would still be on the premises. He ordered Glen and the others to enter the classroom as he demanded my student identity card. Now he had my details, he demanded I enter the classroom, failure to do so would mean further detention and a letter to my parents. I obeyed. Pairs of shoes scattered the floor near to the teachers desk, I looked at those present, they were sat in socked feet. The teacher ordered me to remove my shoes. I shouldn’t be here, now I have to take off my shoes too.
Not only had I missed my bus, accused of avoiding a detention I had not been sent to, I now had to hand over my shoes and involuntarily stay in a classroom in my socked feet.

The Vault. Pt2

Author – Jimbo

We had been locked inside the Vault for hours when Charlie finally returned, his brother Bobby threatened to beat him up again. This made Charlie reluctant to unlock the door, more out of fear than anything else. I desperately wanted to leave and tried to reassure him he would not come to any harm but Charlie did not trust his older sibling or his mates.
Charlie said he would get his other brother Chris to come and unlock the door and protect him at the same time. Bobby said their eldest brother would be at work. We weren’t going anywhere soon. I was hungry and cold, especially my feet, I pleaded with Charlie to at least give us our trainers back but he refused.
‘I want my shoes!’ Demanded Jeff.
Charlie ignored him before leaving us again. We were all pretty pissed off, if Chris does come and release us then Charlie would be safe, their older sibling was 25 and he could easily defend himself from Bobby, Jeff and me.
Having been locked up and shoeless all afternoon it was a relief to hear Chris’s voice coming from the stairs.
‘There had better be a good reason why you’ve brought me inside this abandoned building, I’m in a hurry. I am supposed to be meeting a girl from the office right now.’
He and Charlie appeared. Chris stared momentarily before bursting out laughing. He assumed we were trapped inside the vault and asked if we had called the fire brigade to rescue us.
‘We ain’t trapped, Charlie has the key, he says he’s too frightened to open the door. He knows I’m gonna beat the shit out of him when he does.’ Said Bobby.
Chris laughed even more, then he looked at our feet.
‘Where are your shoes?’ He asked.
Chris was doubled up with laughter, tears streaming down his face as I explained.
‘You’re telling me that a 13 year kid locked up three 17 year olds and took away your shoes aswell? You sad bunch of losers!’
Bobby demanded to be let out. ‘Just open the fucking door and give us our shoes.’ He said with embarrassment.
‘If I didn’t need to be somewhere else right now, I’d have fun with you three, you wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.’ Replied Chris.
He looked at his watch before telling Charlie to fetch the key and our trainers. The youngest sibling left leaving Chris staring at Bobby through the bars with a big grin on his face.
‘You can’t blame Charlie for being frightened, after all if he had me locked up I would want to beat the living daylights out of him too.’ He said looking at his watch again.
‘I need to meet this girl, I’m already late. I’ll open the door, demand you don’t lay a finger on him just to cover myself if dad finds out. Then once I’ve gone you can beat the crap out of him.’
Bobby began to smile just as Charlie returned carrying our trainers. He dropped them on the floor and nervously gave the key to Chris. I could feel a sense of relief, my shoes were just feet away and the door was opening.
We moved towards the open door, Chris stepped forward spreading his arms to create a barrier, winked before telling us not to harm Charlie. We pretended to agree, as Chris turned to face Charlie the door was slammed in his face. Chris had inadvertently stepped inside the vault to make his fake gesture of protection and Charlie had seized upon it.
‘What the fuck!’ Shouted Chris.
‘I overheard your conversation, you weren’t going to stay and protect me!’ Screamed Charlie at his eldest brother.
‘Open the fucking door!’ Demanded Chris angrily.
I now knew where Bobby got his temper from as I watched Chris scream at Charlie.
Chris got out his phone, Charlie smiled knowing it was useless down here in the vault.
Chris was still in his office attire, Charlie looked at his brothers feet, he was wearing a pair of black Chelsea boots.

The Shoe Patrol

Author – Jman

The student union had several study rooms, lounges and a snack bar. It was a comfortable place to study and hang out with friends. Often students would take off their shoes and roam the student union in socked feet. The problem was that when students took off their shoes they would leave them on the floor in walkways where people could trip over them. There had been a few times where students had almost tripped over other students’ shoes. Also it became hard to vacuum the floor with all these shoes lying about on the floor. These concerns were raised to the managers of the student union.

In response to this lockers were placed in the student union where students could leave their shoes and walk around in their socks. A policy was made that shoes must be kept in lockers and not on the floor and that any shoes left unattended would be removed. Despite the warning and the policy shoes were still being left on the floor in areas where people could trip over them. Many of the students did not want to pay the fifty cents to rent a shoe locker.

Unattended shoes were still a big problem and something had to be done. The student union decided to hire two students who would be known as the shoe patrol. There job would be to go throughout the student union with a trash bag and if they found any unattended shoes left on the floor, they were to take the shoes and put them in their trash bags. At the end of their shift the collected shoes were to be taken to the shredder in the basement where the shoes would be shredded and the remains would be recycled.

Joe and Wendy were hired to be the shoe patrol.. Joe and Wendy believed in following rules and believed in zero tolerance for breaking the rules. Joe and Wendy started their rounds.

Meanwhile Jason was in one of the study rooms. Jason had a habit of always taking off his shoes, leaving them in a study room and roaming the student union in his socks. Today was no exception. Jason took of his brown oxford school shoes and set them aside. He got up to take a break and left his shoes unattended. On the way back he stopped in the lounge and began to watch a tv show. He did not think about his shoes being unattended. He had left them in study rooms before and nothing happened.

As Jason went back to the study room, he saw Joe in the distance placing his shoes into the trash bag. Jason tried to get back to the study room to save his shoes but it was too late. The shoes were already in the trash bag. Once the shoes are in the trash bag, they cannot be returned but had to be taken to the shredder. As Jason, in his white socks, came into the study room, Joe said, “Were these your shoes?” ‘Yes,” Jason replied.

Jason accepted the fact that his shoes were gone. Joe continued his rounds.

to be continued…

The Vault

Author – Jimbo

It was the school holidays and me Jeff and Bobby were bored, the weather had been lousy. Eventually it stopped raining, we decided to go outside but Bobby had to babysit his younger brother Charlie, who wanted to spend the day on his PlayStation. Nobody liked Charlie, especially his brother. At 13 he was old enough to look after himself but Bobby didn’t trust him to be left home alone so he insisted on taking him with us but Charlie refused to leave.

Bobby threw Charlie his trainers to put on but the lad threw them back. I picked up his discarded Nikes and threatened to throw them in the river. Charlie took the hint, snatched back his trainers and reluctantly put them on and followed us outside.

As we headed towards the town centre it began to rain again, Jeff suggested we go inside an abandoned bank to shelter from the rain. We entered through a broken window at the back and began to explore. Downstairs in the cellar we found a vault.

‘Do you think they left any valuables behind?’ Joked Jeff.

It had iron railings from floor to ceiling. I commented that it looked like a jail as we walked inside. Bobby suggested we should lock Charlie in. We all laughed at the thought, then we heard the door close behind us. Charlie had locked us inside and it was him now laughing from the other side of the iron bars. Bobby swore at his younger brother as he tried to open the door.

‘You better go find a key you fucking piece of shit!’

There was no other way out, after all it was a vault. Charlie laughed again saying we were his prisoners and we should be more respectful.

‘Go find the fucking key!’ I shouted.

Charlie disappeared leaving us alone. A short while later he returned holding some keys he had found in an upstairs office. Several keys didn’t fit but one did, as soon as he unlocked the door he slammed it shut again.

‘Think you guys need to stay here a while longer, reflect on your attitude towards me.’ He said laughing dangling the key.

‘Open the fucking door!’ Shouted Bobby.

‘You need to speak respectfully to your prison guard or you won’t be released.’
He then placed the key on a wall hook out of reach of us telling us we can stare at it for a while. Bobby got out his phone to call his dad.

‘Dad won’t be happy to leave work to rescue us.’ Said Bobby.

He quickly realised he had no signal, me and Jeff looked at our phones, we had no signal either. We were in a vault!

‘Unlucky!’ shouted Charlie as he walked away leaving us trapped.

Bobby shouted at his brother to come back but he didn’t. We could see the key but couldn’t reach it. Jeff took off one his Adidas trainers and threw it at the wall but missed the key. He tried again with his other trainer, the key fell to the floor.

‘We still can’t reach the key and now you have no shoes!’ I said.

Jeff looked at his white socked feet as he realised his trainers were out of his reach too. Charlie returned and seen the key and Jeff shoes on the floor. He put the key in his pocket and picked up Jeff’s trainers.
‘Give me my shoes and open the fucking door!’ Shouted Jeff.

‘You still don’t get it do you boys! You have to be nice to me before I set you free.’

Charlie kicked off his Nikes and placed his feet inside Jeff’s Adidas Sambas.

‘Get your grubby feet out of my trainers.’ Shouted Jeff.

Jeff’s size 11 trainers were too big, he quickly put his own trainers back on. He smiled as he looked at Jeff’s socked feet.

‘Having watched Traffic Cops on TV all prisoners get their shoes confiscated before going in the cells. I think you should do the same. Take off your shoes boys.’ He said with a big grin on his face.

I looked down at my TN’s and told him straight that he wasn’t having my shoes.

‘Your not getting our shoes as we are not your fucking prisoners, just open the door shithead.’ Shouted Bobby.

‘Your still not being nice to me, the more you’re disrespectful the longer you stay locked up.’ He said as he left again taking Jeff’s shoes with him.

‘Leave my shoes here!’ Shouted Jeff.

Charlie ignored him leaving Jeff frustrated at having his shoes taken by a 13 year old and he was helpless to anything about it.

This time Charlie had been gone a good while. We began to get concerned that he’d gone home leaving us trapped inside the vault.

I said we are going to have to be nice to him.

‘He’s gonna have to let us out eventually.’ Said Jeff.

‘When he does I’m gonna fucking kill him.” Said Bobby.

Charlie returned empty handed.

‘What have you done with my trainers?’ Demanded Jeff.

Charlie assured him they were safe for now.

‘What do you want in order for us to leave here?’ I said politely through gritted teeth.

“Your shoes!” He said looking at my feet.

I looked at my TN’s and said he could take them as long as I get them back.

‘You are my prisoners, I make the demands.’ He said.

I reluctantly took off my trainers and placed them through the bars. As he took them I grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards me, pinning him to the bars. Jeff reached into Charlie’s pockets but the key wasn’t there.

‘Nice try boys, the key is with your Adidas trainers Jeff. You’ll now have to spend a little longer in there for your attempt at escaping.’

‘You said you would free us if I give you my shoes!’ I said.

He smiled saying he didn’t stipulate when we were to be freed.

‘You fucking arsehole!’ Shouted Bobby.

He picked up my trainers threatening to throw them in the river.

I watched helplessly as Charlie left with my trainers leaving me standing on the cold floor in my black Nike crew socks.

Bobby said his brother would suffer painfully when he gets out of here. Charlie returned.
‘We still have a prisoner wearing shoes, they need to be confiscated!’

We all looked at Bobby’s white Air Force Ones.

‘I’m not your prisoner and you’re certainly not taking my trainers!’ Said Bobby.

‘Just give him your shoes!’ Said Jeff.

Bobby stood defiantly with his arms crossed. Charlie told me and Jeff to remove his brothers shoes. Bobby’s face looked like it was about to explode. At 17 he was not happy at being ridiculed by his kid brother in front of his mates.

‘Take his shoes boys!’ Said Charlie telling us the more we disobey the longer we remain in the vault.

As Bobby stood staring at his brother, me and Jeff got on our knees and began to untie his laces, I lifted his foot and pulled off his trainer. I could smell and feel the warmth of his socked foot. I watched Jeff do the same with Bobby’s other shoe.

We passed the Air Force Ones through the bars leaving all three of us as shoeless prisoners, just as he had wanted. Charlie demanded we call him Sir when we speak to him. Jeff refused. We were reminded of the consequences of disobeying him.

Charlie held up his brothers trainers and smiled.

‘I want you all to thank me for taking care of your trainers whilst your locked in my prison!’

Through gritted teeth in my socked feet I said ‘Thank You!’

‘You all need to say it and properly.’ He said.

‘Thank you for taking care of our shoes!’ We said.

‘Again!’ He said annoying the life out of us.

‘Thank you for taking care of our shoes. Sir!’ We said with great embarrassment with being at the mercy of a 13 year old kid.

Charlie had a big cheesy grin on his face as he left room taking Bobby’s trainers with him.

We sat on the floor staring at our shoeless feet. Charlie had been gone a while, how long was he going to keep us locked up and more importantly what had he done with our shoes?

Orange socks pt 12 – the parade

Author – YMG

It was the morning of the parade.

The various men who had jailed in the town wre dreading the parade. they thought about not cooperating or simply excaping, but they were warned that anyone who failed to participate would be sentenced to a full year of community service and end up participating in the next year’s parade, so they understood that it wuld be better to swalllow their pride and get it over and doen with.

The morning dawned bright and early, thankfully it was a dry day so at least they wouldn;t get thier socks wet. The sherrif appeared in the jail. “Good day to all you guys. Follow me.”
They followed him to the back entrance where they had been processed. he looked at the orange clad feet, and then broguht out another box of orange socks. “Put these on your hands” he told them.
“What the ***” they all asked.

Not everyone in the crowd will be able to see your feet, So you wear these on your hands and wave to everyone.

A couple of men reached out for the socks but andy and Vincent refused. “Kids, you’l end up here another year if you dont’t cooperate. ” the sherrif reminded them. Simlar to the socks, eh insisted that they put the socks over their sleeves. most the socks came half way up to the elbow.

With little choice all the men put the socks on their hands too.

They were led out to the main street and told to wait behind a line. Stnaign on along the side were numerous townspeople plus people from nearbu towns who had come to watch the humiliating spectacle.
then the throwing started. numerous pebbles, gravel, rocks, acorns, and general garbage was thrown down on the main street were they would be walking.

Finally it was time for the walk to ebgin. with cheering from the crowd, the “criminals” walked carefully, watching every step, and waving their oranged-socked hands to the crowd. Finnally after a kilomtere and a half the torture was over, and they wre allowed to retunr to their bunkhouse.

Orange socks part 11

Author – Jman

Russ was working stocking shelves in the grocery store, having been sentenced to two weeks of community service. For the past four days he has had nothing on his feet but the bright orange socks. When he had to stock the coolers, the floor felt very cold and he really wanted to have shoes on his feet but his shoes had been donated to the thrift store. Russ had accepted his fate and decided to make the best of it.

Later Tom came in wearing a very expensive pair of Converse All Stars. He noticed Russ in his orange socked feet. It seemed strange to be working in a store not wearing shoes. Tom was going through the produce section and was handling pieces of fruit to see if they were of good quality. As he was handing the fruits and vegetables, the store manager came up to him and charged him with disorderly conduct. By handing the pieces of fruit, he was putting germs on them and endangering the public.

Russ then had a smile on his face as he realized Tom’s fate. Tom appeared before the judge on a charge of reckless endangerment. He was sentenced to two weeks of community service, his shoes were taken and he was given his pair of orange socks.

In the meantime George was assigned to the thrift store where he saw his skate shoes on the shelf for sale. A customer came in and bought George’s former shoes.

That night Tom, Russ and George were all together in the bunk house. Tom recognized Russ as the one stocking shelves and filling coolers.

The next day the community service manager told them that because there was a parade in town that day, there would be no work detail. It was Community Day where the town’s people celebrated their town with a parade showing those things that made their town clean, unique and successful. George, Tom and Russ thought that they would have a day to rest but they were told that they were going to be in the parade as the town was known for offenders doing community service in bright orange socks. They would be walking down the street in their bright orange socks and carrying a sign saying, “You break the law, you wear the orange socks.” If they hadn’t felt humiliated by the orange socks before, they sure felt humiliated now.

As was the tradition, the townspeople through rocks, acorns and gravel on the street as just as the sock-clad lads were about to walk on the street meaning that Tom, George and Russ would have to walk on gravel in their socks. As they walked on the gravel in their socks, they would also be required to wave to the crowds. When the parade was over they would sweep the streets of the gravel.

The PE Teacher

Author – Shoe Guy

Three year 13 students always had an excuse not to attend PE lessons.
Being the last period of the day, Jed the PE teacher knew they just sneaked off early. Lee, Ally and Jordan were 18 and uninterested in their last year at school.
Forgetting their kit again Jed had them empty their school bags to prove it. All he found were their school shoes and books. He asked why they managed to remember their sports shoes but not their kit as he looked at their feet. All three were wearing black Nike Air Max trainers. He ordered them to take them off as they were against school dress code. Lee smiled and said they were in PE so they were allowed, the other students laughed, much to Jeds annoyance. Again Jed told them to remove their trainers or they would get detention for a week. Lee took off his Nikes, leaving him stood in his white socks. His smile disappeared when Jed picked up their trainers and told them to go to his office afterwards to discuss their incorrect footwear. Ally looked pissed off, he knew they weren’t sneaking out early today.
Jed ordered everyone out onto the football pitch. The three shoeless lads grabbed their bags to retrieve their school shoes. Jed ordered them to leave their bags including their shoes in the locker room, they protested but Jed told them that standing shoeless on the grass would not hurt them, only their pride. In defeat they just threw their bags on a bench and stormed out in their socked feet.
Jed took the Nikes to his office, locking them inside, before joining the class on the pitch.
During the lesson, Lee, Ally and Jorden stood silently with embarrassment on the side of the pitch. They looked fed up, without any shoes they were going nowhere. Also attending the lesson, Freddie, the captain of the football team, commented to Jed how quiet the three shoeless boys were during the lesson. He said they should get their shoes taken every week. Jed replied saying he hoped next week they would be participating as they won’t be getting their trainers returned until they do. Freddie laughed.
Jed told Lee, Ally and Jorden to go straight to his office, they could collect their bags from the locker room afterwards. The three boys looked fed up even more so knowing they would have to walk through the school without any shoes on their feet.
Jed took his time getting showered and changed before heading back to his office. The three boys were embarrassed as they stood waiting in their socked feet as everyone stared as they passed by and also frustrated as they could see their unreachable trainers through the locked office door.
Eventually their PE teacher arrived, the three sock footed lads followed Jed into his office. He tried encouraging them to participate next week but they weren’t interested. He shook his head, picked up their trainers and locked them inside a cupboard. Their jaws dropped as he told them he would be keeping their Nikes until they attend his football lesson next week with their PE kit. They walked out of his office still in socked feet and told to collect their bags and put on their school shoes like they should have been wearing earlier.

The next day Jed arrived at his office to find the head teacher waiting. He’d received a complaint from Jordens parents. All three boys had their school shoes stolen from the locker room and because their trainers had been confiscated they had walked home in their socked feet. The head ordered Jed to investigate the theft and return the boys confiscated trainers.

Jed immediately went to the locker room, all the lockers were open except one. It was locked with a padlock it had ‘Freddie’ written on it from a Sharpie pen. Jed found his star football player and took him to the locker room were he removed the padlock. Inside the locker where three pairs of school shoes. Jed told Freddie how disappointed he was, especially as he knew the boys had nothing else to wear.
Freddie claimed it was just a bit of fun. Jed shouted at him and asked how he would like to spend the full day shoeless. Freddie blushed as he looked at his shoes, worried he may lose them but concerned he would lose any credibility amongst his peers having to walk around school in his socks.
Jed told him to go to his lessons whilst he decided on an appropriate punishment. Freddie quickly left relieved not to lose his shoes.
Jed summonsed the three boys to his office, they had old shoes on their feet. He apologised as he gave them their missing school shoes. He also gave them back their Nikes, he told them he still expected them to attend his next PE lesson with their football kit.

To be continued

(Orange) Socks for Christmas

Author – George

Andy wanted to have a Christmas party whilst his parents were spending the holiday season on a Caribbean cruise ship but his older brother Ted wouldn’t allow it. Andy decided to go visit his buddy Chris instead.
In his haste to get away Andy had taken the wrong bus, to makes things worse the driver refused let him off until it reached its next stop. Andy began talking to other passengers, Ben and Paul, who were heading home for Christmas. They’d already started celebrating the holiday early by drinking liquor, they offered the bottle to Andy but he politely refused explaining he wasn’t 21 until next month, although he knew he’d be drinking later, in the confines of his buddy’s apartment.
Ben told Andy the bus wouldn’t reach its next stop for another hour.
“Think I’ll have that drink after all.” He said realising he wasn’t going to see his buddy today.
As they held their impromptu bus party, Andy noticed Bens sneaks.
“Same shoes dude!” He said pointing to his Jordans.
“Same color too, British Khaki!” Replied Ben.
Paul lifted his foot showing he too had the exact same pair. Ben said his buddy always copies him. They all laughed and drank more liquor.
As the bus pulled into the station, Andy said goodbye to his new friends. His return bus wasn’t for two hours, he decided to get food, he was feeling light headed from the alcohol.
In a diner he ordered a burger with fries. He spoke with Chris and told him his location and explained he wasn’t gonna make it.
“Happy holidays!” Said Chris disappointingly as he hung up.
Andy messaged his brother, ‘Change of plan, see you tonight asshole!’
Eating his burger, Andy noticed a guy clearing tables wearing orange socks without any shoes. ‘Weird!’ He thought.
Walking back to the bus station, with plenty of time to kill, he entered a thrift store. For a small town it had plenty of donated sneakers.
At $100 a pair they were good value but he couldn’t afford any. It didn’t stop him trying on a pair of Red Nike Vapormax which were in excellent new condition.
Reaching the bus station a deputy stopped him.
“You been drinking?” He asked explaining he’d had a report of a young person stinking of alcohol in the diner.
The deputy asked to see his I.D. Andy stumbled his words as he denied being under age.
The Deputy said, “Looks like you’re coming with me!”
Entering a small jailhouse, Andy desperately wanted to call his brother, but his cell phone and sneakers were quickly confiscated. Bewildered at being locked inside a cell in his black crew socks he looked around and recognised the other sleeping occupants.
Andy sat on the bench, sandwiched between two pairs of white socked feet belonging to Ben and Paul, he promptly fell asleep.
Although he’d never met his cell mates before today, they all arrived on the same bus, were drunk, arrested and now asleep in the same cell after having their matching sneakers confiscated. They surprisingly had a lot in common.
All three woke up as the cell door opened. A guard gave them water, Paul thought he was in a drunk tank and asked how much it was going to cost for him to be released.
The guard laughed, “It’s not eastern Europe, we don’t have drunk tanks, we don’t demand money for your freedom!”
“That’s great to hear, so can we now leave?” Asked Ben.
“Not before you see the judge.” Said the guard.
As they drank their water, Ben explained they had been arrested after getting kicked off the bus for being drunk.
An hour later the door opened again.
“About time too, it’s Christmas eve, we need to get a bus outta here! Said Ben. The guard smiled as he produced some manacles, he’d heard the protests a thousand times before as he shackled the ankles of their socked feet.
Before lunchtime they’d all been sentenced to a week of community service.
“This is insane! Give us a break? It’s Christmas tomorrow! Please let us go?” He begged.
They were taken to a bunkhouse and were each given a pair of orange socks. “What’s these?” Asked Paul.
“An early Christmas present.” Said the Community service supervisor, laughing.
Ben demanded his sneakers.
“Don’t think we’ll be seeing our shoes anytime soon!” said Andy remembering the guy in the diner wearing only orange socks on his feet.
They explored the bunkhouse, it was pretty basic but the beds looked comfortable. In the kitchen, a sack of potatoes and pile of other vegetables lay on the counter top.
A short time later the shoeless guy from the diner arrived, he introduced himself as Ryan. He advised everyone to stay calm, obey the rules and instructions or they could be here for longer than a week.
“Everyone went home yesterday except me, I’m so pleased you’re here, I was worried I’d have to prepare all those vegetables myself!” He said.
He explained that a group of homeless guys from the nearby city would be here for Christmas Dinner tomorrow.
“Great! I’m going to spend Christmas peeling potatoes!” Said Andy. Ryan reminded him that he was here to do community service after all!
It had taken them the whole of Christmas morning to prepare dinner for the homeless. They cheerfully welcomed their guests into the bunkhouse. No point being miserable to those less fortunate, thought Paul.
Ben couldn’t help but notice some of these destitute guys had expensive sneakers on their feet.
“What’s with the kicks guys?” He said dishing up meals. They explained that the homeless charity had given them a $100 voucher each to spend in the local thrift store. Most had decided to get new shoes. Ben told a guy that he owned a pair exactly like his, “same color too,” he said.
“Why you not wearing them?” Asked the homeless guy.
Ben said local law enforcerment were taking special care of them.
“We hope Santa Claus will bring us some shoes.” Said Paul laughing.
“You have to be good boys first!” Said the homeless guy.
Everyone laughed except Andy, he had an uncomfortable feeling about the homeless guys new kicks. Especially as two other guys were wearing the same sneakers.
The visitors would be spending the night at the bunkhouse. Paul thought it was a nice gesture until he discovered they were getting kicked out and would be spending Christmas night at the jailhouse.
The jailhouse only had two cells, one was occupied, so the four guys would have to share the other. They all sat, bored, on the bench, arms crossed, legs stretched out in front of them displaying eight orange socked feet.
“Not how I had imagined Christmas to be!” Said Paul. Ben changed the subject and said it was good to see the homeless being treated well for the holiday.
“Yeah, sleeping in our beds and wearing our shoes!” Said Andy.
“Our shoes?” Said Ben, looking puzzled!
“Three guys on a bus wearing the same sneaks was a coincidence, but three homeless guys also wearing the exact same sneaks was fucking bizarre!” Exclaimed Andy.
He asked Ryan what shoes had he been wearing when he got arrested.
“Red Vapormax sneakers, size 10.” Answered Ryan.
Andy shook his head telling them he had visited the same thrift store and seen a red pair of Vapormax, size 10 but not three pairs of Jordans in the same distinct color!
“They would have received them after your visit.” Said Ben.
“Exactly! As soon as we were arrested, they took our shoes to that store.” Said Andy.
Ben still dismissed the idea, “Why would they sell our kicks!”
Andy couldn’t answer but it was the only logical reason why so many sneakers were in a small town thrift store.
Andy was convinced his new Jordans would be pounding the streets of the big city by some homeless person tomorrow. If only his asshole of a brother had let him have his party, he wouldn’t be locked up on Christmas day without his shoes. Ted would probably not stop laughing when he finds out.

The next day they were put to work in the community before returning to the bunkhouse. It needed a good clean, especially the bed sheets, after the homeless people had vacated.
Two new arrivals were at the bunkhouse. Andy was surprised.
They weren’t pleased as they stood wearing orange socks.
“What are both doing here?” Asked Andy to his brother Ted and best buddy Chris.
Ted said he had become concerned when his brother had failed to return home.
“I contacted Chris who said you had been here, so we both came looking for you!”
In their search for Andy, both Ted and Chris were arrested, accused of casing houses to steal Christmas presents.
“Always thought you were the Grinch!” Said Andy laughing.
Andy unapologetically said it wasn’t his fault they’d come looking for him.
“They took my cell phone and shoes for being drunk.” He said.
“We’ve been in jail for two days and now have to spend a week here because you got drunk!” Shouted Ted, very angrily.
Andy found it funny that his brother had spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Night locked up. It amused him to think they had all spent Christmas night together, only separated by a concrete block wall.
He smiled even more realising Ted would still be here on New Years Eve.
“I’m gonna have the best New year’s party and there is nothing you can do to stop me.” Said Andy.
“Mom and dad will go crazy!” Cried Ted begging his younger sibling not have a party.
Andy gave his buddy a sympathetic smile. Chris knew he would still be stuck here with Ted ringing in the New Year whilst wearing orange socks.
Andy smiled once more as he looked at his brothers shoeless feet,
“One more thing Ted! I sure do hope you where wearing your expensive Gucci shoes when you got arrested?”

Swapping Shoes in the thrift Store pt.2

Author – Shoeless Sub

(It’s been four years since I left that rainy west coast city and last week, I visited it for a few days. During my stay, I went to that thrift store where I lost my Janoskis (you can see that story here: https://wheresmysneaks.wordpress.com/2023/01/30/swapping-shoes-in-a-thrift-store/).

No one was in the store, and I found a pair of grey Adidas Match Play on the rack. I quickly slipped off my Nike Air Max 90s and tried them on. They fitted perfectly, so I wanted to take them. But rather than simply buying them, I decided to get playful. I decided to wear the Match Plays as if they were my shoes and hold my Air Max in hand, pretending they are store shoes that I’d like to check out.

As I placed the Air Max 90s on the counter, the cashier frowned, and his eyes were fixed on the sneakers. I didn’t know what was happening at first. Then I also stared at my shoes. Seeing the shiny khaki leather and spotless white fabric, I immediately realized what was wrong.

“Sh*t,” I thought, “My Nikes are too new to be thrift store shoes.”

It turned out he recognized my Air Maxes weren’t from the store. But instead of saying that, he stepped out of the cash register. Staring at my feet, he said, “Please take those off your feet. They look familiar to me and I need to inspect.”

F**k. I should’ve peeled off the price sticker on the insole.

“But you can’t force me to remove my shoes!” I tried to argue back.

“Look, we both know those aren’t yours but the store’s. If you insist, I can call the cops and show them the video recording.”

His words scared the sh*t out of me. I removed the Match Plays obediently and stood in my black socked feet. He saw the price sticker and grinned.

“Since you stole a pair of shoes from our store, I have reason to believe those Nikes were stolen, too, so I’ll confiscate them.”

“What?? But you can’t do this!! Those were mine!!” I cried out, “I wasn’t trying to steal … I was just trying to have some fun.” I explained to him the “game” I was trying to play. “Please,” I begged, “check the video recordings, you can see I entered the store wearing those!”

“We’re a thrift store and don’t have cameras.” He looked at me like a fool. “I only mentioned it to trick you.”

I knew I was screwed. “Please, I don’t have a spare pair, I can’t go shoeless in this city for four more days!” I begged.

“That’s none of my business. You also can’t buy any shoes from our store. In fact you need to leave the store right away. Thieves are put on our blacklist and you’re not allowed to come back.”

And with that, he escorted me out of the store, leaving me in my socked feet in the cold.

What happened next wasn’t as bad as I thought. I took a uber to a nearby Marshalls (I was too shy to take the bus with my socks) and ended up buying a really cheap pair of Levi’s sneakers, so at least I wasn’t shoeless for the next four days. When I entered the store the security guard threw looks at my bare feet but didn’t stop me. As I was going through the racks I saw a pair of really worn Nike Air Force 1 and got indignant: here’s someone who actually swapped their stinky old shoes for a new pair and wasn’t caught. I wasn’t even stealing and yet had my shoes confiscated.

Orange Socks – pt 10

Author – Jman

Trent and Mitch, the two out-of-town police officers were finishing up their two weeks of community service. They were hoping to be wearing sandals on the beech but instead spent their vacation wearing orange socks.

Upon leaving town, they said that they would be back and put an end to their racket of arresting out of town people and sentencing them to community service. The sheriff said, “I would not do that. If you return to our town, we will watch your every move and if you make the slightest mistake, you will wear the orange socks again. Do you want to take that risk?” Trent and Mitch then boarded the bus and went back to their own town.

A few weeks later Scott, his deputy day Joe, the sheriff John and the judge Henry went up state for a fishing trip. They were in a small town and were stopped for speeding. Stopping them for speeding were Trent and Mitch. Since they were going over the speed limit by too many miles per hour, they were taken to jail.

When they got to jail their shoes were taken. They had on thick, heavy, grey socks. In stocking feet they were led before the judge. As they were walking to the courthouse, they saw two men in orange socks without shoes. One was washing windows and the other was sweeping the sidewalk. The four men had looks of horror on their faces and they realized what would be happening to them next.

The four appeared before the judge. Henry said to the judge, “Yes, we were speeding but we are officers and a judge, that brotherhood should be taken into consideration. The judge replied, “You of all people should have respect for the law. Two weeks community service.” The judge then had Trent and Mitch take them to get their orange socks that they would be wearing for the next two weeks.

Trent then said to the four, “While we did not spend those two weeks doing what we wanted. We were impressed with your community service program that we started doing it here. As you can see, it has been going well. We have been able to maintain our town for minimum costs.”

What goes around comes around.

To be continued.