Sunday, July 08, 2007

Quality Kansas Shoes

As Matt and I were on the elevator going to church yesterday, a British/Australian man (I'm having alot of trouble distinguishing accents these days) struck up a short conversation with us:

Man: So where are you from?
Us: The US
Man: Where in the US?
Us: Kansas, it's in the middle.
[Elevator door opens at our floor]
Man: Oh, Kansas...where all the good shoes come from.
[Elevator door closes, and we are left alone to ponder his last statement.]


What could he have possibly meant? Cowboy Boots? Payless Shoes (since it originated in Topeka, KS)? Huh? Anybody have a clue what our little Brit/Aussie friend could have meant by this? Maybe it was a tactic he uses to appear aloof and elusive. I think the next time I meet someone from New Jersey, I'm going to say "Ah, New Jersey. That's where all the best neckties come from..." And then run away.

7 comments:

amylew said...

Maybe he has some connection between Kansas & Ruby Red Slippers - though not technically shoes and they were actually from OZ! My experience from living outside of KS, is that everyone else likes to associate it with the Wizard of OZ. It may be a stretch, but it was a quick elevator conversation!

Anonymous said...

Maybe "shoe" is one of those words that means something different in British English...perhaps he meant to say "that's where all the good boots come from," in which case he was commenting on the fine quality of Kansas car trunks.

Mike & Helen said...

Being a Brit myself, I would definitely associate Kansas with these shoes: http://www.150.si.edu/150trav/remember/r1118.htm

So, I agree with Amy.

Maybe the guy was predicting a typhoon for this week when we'd all be blown away?

Jumping Jayhawk said...

Speaking of ruby red slippers. . .I found a pair in Nordstroms! Since people out here in Washington just LOVE to tease me about "You're not in Kansas anymore" I decided that maybe by joining in the joke I could end the torture. So, I bought the shoes. . .and they still tease me. But really, if I could just click my heels and go home then I would save a ton of money on plane fares to visit my family, right?

Anonymous said...

maybe he's gay


not that there is anything wrong with that...

Anonymous said...

Wow... beats me... maybe he did mean the ruby slippers. I've actually heard before that Missouri has been known in the past as a big shoe manufacturing state... Brown Shoe company and all... but I don't know about any Kansas shoes. You should check that out. Ya'll could have been living right there next to fabulous shoes and not even known it?!?

Unknown said...

Actually until recently, New Jersey was the number producer of tomatoes for the United States. So you could say, "Ah New Jersey, that's where all of those great tomatoes come from..."

Also, did you know that at one time Kansas City was considered to be one of the major fashion hubs in the Midwest?