He Decided To Walk In Your Shoes

I’m an attendant at an indoor shooting range for kids, where they fire foam balls out of air-powered guns mounted within the arena. It can get a little hectic, but it’s an okay shift to get as parents either play with their kids or leave them to it.

There is a narrow passageway leading to the entrance, with a gate clearly stating, “No shoes beyond this point.” As you can imagine, we get a lot of parents walking straight through the gate to play with or watch their kids, and most of my job is reminding them to remove their shoes and place them in a nearby shoe park. There are also coin-operated lockers just next to the shoe park.

Most parents are fine, a few huff and puff, but this particular customer took the cake. He’s a middle-aged guy, fairly heavy-set, not exactly threatening, but I’m a pretty slightly built seventeen-year-old.

Me: “Sir, I’m sorry, but if you wouldn’t mind just removing your shoes if you’re going to come in.”

Customer: “Nah, they’ll get nicked.”

He’s wearing an incredibly battered pair of walking boots.

Me: “I can assure you it won’t be a problem, sir. While we can’t guarantee personal property, I’ve never seen anyone steal shoes around here. If you’re concerned, we do have coin-operated lockers—”

I’m interrupted at this point by the man stepping forward, directly into my personal space, and sticking his face into mine.

Customer: “So, will you guarantee the safety of my shoes, personally? Are you going to do that for me?!”

He is shaping up like he’s about to challenge me to a fight. This is a grown man, squaring up to a teenager, because he was asked to remove his shoes.

Me: “As I said, sir, I can’t guarantee any personal property. But you’ll need to take your shoes off to come in.”

The man gives me a long, searching look, then huffs, removes his shoes, and puts them RIGHT by the entrance. This is technically not allowed, but at this point, I don’t have the energy to argue with him. 

He goes in and starts playing with his kids. After about fifteen minutes, he comes up to me, grinning. 

Customer: “This is great! How long has this been here?! I don’t wanna leave!”

He was perfectly friendly and had a great time, and when he left, he not only thanked me, but he also handed me a lost membership card he’d found in the play area so it could be returned to its owner!

I can only imagine the abrupt shift in personality was due to him realising how pathetic it was to physically intimidate a seventeen-year-old half his weight over a no-shoes policy!