Cinderella Wears Slippers

Yesterday I left the house to go to work at 5:15 a.m. It was cold and rainy. Anyone who lives in Southern California knows it loses all its charm when it isn't warm and sunny. I knew I had to work until noon and then go vote, have lunch and go back to the office until midnight. When you work in the world of news...a presidential election is kind of like Cinderella's enchanted night at the ball. It's a really big deal. And so when I left the house at 2:15 p.m. to go back to the office for the second half of my split shift, I put my bedroom slippers in a bag with a change of clothing.

My bedroom slippers are the most comfy footwear I've ever owned. I think it's the combination of a very thick sole and the memory foam cushion, but I have never in my life owned footwear as comfortable as my white scuffs. They are not glamorous or sexy...that has been pointedly pointed out to me on more than one occasion...but I worship them as if they were a pair of stilettos. I bought them on sale at Mervyns. I went back and bought a pair for my mom a few weeks later. My cat has peed on them and I put them through the washer and dryer. I frequently take the garbage out in them. I have them waiting for me at my bedside every morning when I get up so I don't have to look for them. Some mornings looking forward to putting on my deliciously comfy slippers is the only thing that gets me out of bed at 4:30 a.m.

Last night around 8:00 p.m. when I realized that I'd been in my work clothes, and at work for more than twelve hours, I changed into my second work outfit of the day, and put on my slippers. I changed in the ladies room and then shuffled back in my slippers to the newsroom. At first, I wasn't going to leave my desk wearing my slippers, I didn't want anyone to know I was wearing them, but by the time the clock struck midnight everyone in the newsroom had been informed that I was comfortable and I was wearing slippers. I'd been up and down every hallway in the radio station in my slippers. When the AP flashed across my computer screen, 'Obama wins presidency,' I was happy and wearing comfy slippers. No, Cinderella wasn't wearing glass slippers at midnight, but at least I didn't embarrass myself wearing bunny slippers in the newsroom. I'd found a way to get through my nightmare workday...with a little bit of comfort. I think it's a good omen for the future.