These people reduced my sweet eighty-year-old mother to tears.

A year or so ago, my mom mentioned that her feet were bothering her, and that she was thinking of buying orthopedic shoes. Thinking there was no time like the present, I dropped what I was doing and drove her to Goodhart Shoes . I had been gardening, and was wearing old clothes. My mother, who has macular degeneration, dresses eccentrically. When we walked in the door, the clerk looked us up and down and asked, reluctantly, if he could help us. My mom said that she was looking for comfortable brown shoes. The clerk replied, in a put-out tone, "That's not the way it works here. WE pick the shoes for you, you don't tell us what you want." Confused, my mother asked, "Can't I pick a color?" The clerk replied, "Lady, I think you are in the wrong place. You can't afford shoes here." My mom, who is very sweet and not used to being talked to in this way, started to cry. I walked her out.

I have never, ever had a retail experience this awful in my life! Ever since, I have referred to the (ironically named) Goodhart Shoe people as "the shoe nazis." I can't imagine how they've stayed in business.