John and Betty's Shoes

Everyone knows how good Grandma Tolley is at finding deals and saving money. Her skills are legendary, and that's where the term"to pull a Gloria" comes from. When you save even more on a great deal in the first place, that's pulling a Gloria.

One of Grandma's bargain places was a place called John and Betty's. I don't know if it was really even a store...it was in someone's garage. And the garage was full, from top to bottom, with ever-changing stuff. Extra merchandise and big items like refrigerators were stored in other nearby garages. I don't know where all the merchandise came from, maybe it "fell of the back of a truck," but I don't know. And you never knew what would be there...boxes of socks, mattresses, televisions, whatever. It was the beginning of Big Lots. 

That garage was always crowded. There were always some really old people yelling at younger kids to get something from another garage for somebody. For example, your mom wants to buy a lamp. She doesn't see what she likes, so she tells an old lady there what she's looking for. The old lady yells, "Johnny! We got any more of those gold lamps down the street?" and some 30 year old guy named Johnny would go running down the alley to see what they had left. Sometimes people would have to go with Johnny (I remember everyone being named Johnny) to look at carpet samples or big things in the other garage. I never got to go to the other garage myself, but I always imagined it to be some magical place where you could find everything you ever wanted.

John and Betty's was the ideal challenge for Grandmas shopping skills....find a bargain of all bargains in a Tetris-like maze of stuff. And Grandma was good. Thats how she found my gym shoes.

There was always a pile of old lady or little kids shoes, I think because they wore the same sizes.  Other people bought their shoes at real stores that featured styles other than Italy, 1937. But kids couldn't  complain, and tiny old ladies were lucky to find anything in their size. 

Underneath that pile of old lady shoes was a pair of gym shoes that would change my life. White leather, with red patent leather heels and toes, the sides sported blue stripes with little stars cut out of them. This was 1976, the year of our bicentennial, and styles featuring America were pretty popular. Even so, these shoes were spectacular. Drag queens would have found them flashy, but circus clowns could have worn them, or perhaps the Harlem Globetrotters? And not only were they in my size, but Grandma found two pairs of them! I was so lucky.

I remember my friends teasing me about them. Alot. To make matters worse, My friends parents didn't shop at John and Betty's, so no one else had the same style of shoes. Being a fashion-conscious 7th grader who didn't like being laughed at, I tried to make them a fashion statement. Unfortunately, I think the only stament I was making was, "Hello. I am new to your country. I know nothing of your fashion or customs."

What I really remember is wearing them to a 7th grade basketball game. I played forward for the team, as well as going after any jump balls because I was tall. We were all set up for one of these jump balls when the referee noticed my shoes. He started laughing and delayed the game for a few seconds while he composed himself.

That was it. While I was never really any good at it, my enthusiasm for playing basketball quickly fizzled. I played till the end of the year, but that was the end of my sporting career. And my need for those shoes.

I don't know whatever happened to those shoes. Or John and Betty's, for that matter. Perhaps it's just as well.