Monday, May 19, 2008

And it continues...

Much to my surprise.

I have long toes. I mean, freakishly long toes. Ordinarily I don't wear sandals because I hate it when my feet get dirty and dried out- it's just a pet peeve of mine. I don't go barefoot at home either, stateside or Kuwait because I hate the feeling. So when my feet are exposed... To be fair, my fingers and hands are very long and narrow. To be unfair, some people are looking at my feet when asking "Do you play piano?"

Due to a dress code at work and a whole new depth of cultural quicksand, I wear sandals now. Pretty, leather Clarks that I got on sale a couple of years ago and stuffed in the back of the closet figuring they would come in handy at some point. One of the pair barely made it into the suitcase to Kuwait. Now, they are practically all I wear.

It's not because of the heat- I managed to rustle up a pair of Converse All Stars that I prefer to wear much more. It's that a pair of shoes really do make the outfit you're wearing, and this particular pair happens dress up everything from cotton pants to skirts to capri pants. Very handy if you feel like looking like a girl in under 10 seconds on 2 1/2 hours of sleep.

Yes, Man-Thing is still quite present. As J. at The Silver Star said, "Too much handsome, too much money, too much problems!" I couldn't agree more. Until now.

This is where the toes come in.

Picture, if you will, a warm Kuwait evening near Arabian Gulf road...a little humid, somewhat fragrant...cats wander by, roaches wander by, palms trees wave gently in the, well, fragrance. In the distance, small Kuwaiti children are tearing apart a brightly lit, 3 story Burger King.
A man and woman are sitting on a low wall overlooking the water, leaning into each other, talking quietly. One of those early gentle conversations undercut with "The World Is Much Better With You Around" tones.

There is a lull in the conversation. The woman looks up and out at the lights of boats on the water. The man glances down at the ground, catches sight of her feet.
"You have really long toes."
The woman gives an "Aw shit here it comes" sigh
"No, seriously, you have really long toes. Can you do things with them?"
The woman sighs again. "Look..."

Cut to a month later, 1 AM, standing in a parking lot in Dasman after an evening smoking Sheesa with friends. The man and woman have been playfully poking each other in the stomach, and have taken the opportunity of Everyone Else Is Gone to lean into each other, against the car. There is a lull in the conversation. He looks down.
"You have really long toes..."
"Look, you know I have really long toes..."
"No! No!"
"Come on, my toes aren't just long, they're bizzare. You know it, I know it. The reason I like you, is that you can look down at my toes and say, 'Man your feet are freakish" but you still like me, you still think I'm pretty. That's the reason I like you."
He smiled.

So, Man Thing is still around for a number of reasons. Some of which, I haven't scared him off yet. Others being, I'm curious why I haven't scared him off yet and still others, I'm worried why I haven't scared him off yet- I mean, if my toes don't do it and he can more than keep up a conversation with me and he beat my ass in Chess, I think I have a lot to worry about.

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