haute couture

“Sorry, I don’t think she heard you,” said my husband

to someone standing behind me.

I turned from my observation about the price of cashews and California drought

to the girl, twentysomething, chubby, ponytail

who said, “I love your shoes!”

“I know, right?” I said.

“I have a pair in pink,” she said, “but I’ve never seen the blue. Where did you get them?”

We discussed the shoes, and their comfort, and their cuteness, and the acquisition of certain colors,

just two women bonding in the grocery store,

and we had an instant connection because we shared a secret

no one else there would ever know:

They’re Crocs.