It pays sometimes to expend a little bit more money at the beginning --maybe then you can avoid the consequences if things don't go quite the way you figure, and you pay more at the other end. Unfortunately, that's not the way I figured it, back when I started my first (very low-paying) job.
This was in one of the companies that require you to dress, as they say--business like. You know the drill--smart looking clothes, shoes, good haircut, etc., etc. But when you are making a meager salary, you can't afford the brand names, so you go for the knock-offs, cheap imitations, which is what I did. I figured--hey it looks the same, what are they going to do...check the label?
That was my reasoning for buying these really very good looking shoes, they looked modern and went very well with my outfits--and hey--you can't beat ten dollars! So there I was Monday morning, headed to work. Now I lived about two blocks away from the nearest subway station, and it was a short walk, which I sometimes made shorter by going through this large parking lot, to cut the distance to the subway entrance.
So anyway, on a semi-cloudy morning--as I was walking through the parking lot, already a block away from my place, happy in my new shoes---the sky got really dark...and next --drenching rains! This caught me totally by surprise--I did not have an umbrella...luckily I had a plastic bag which I used as an impromptu umbrella to cover my head, and kept walking.
When--disaster hits me! As I walk in the rain, next thing I know the soles of both of my new, wonderful shoes, became unglued and dropped-off. Here I was walking suddenly barefoot--with just the tops of the shoes covering my feet. Nooooo! now what---- I definitely could not go t work like this--what to do? If I missed this train I was going to be late for work, but I couldn't very well go to work barefoot either. So I had no choice but to pretend I enjoyed walking through the parking lot, with my feet completely soaked and soggy. I got back home, faked the sickest voice I could (cough and everything) and called in sick. As I had no paid sick days--the cheap pair of shoes wound up costing me a day's salary!
