Footwear Related Quotes

Try as she might, Annabelle could think of no subtle way to ask him. After grappling silently with a variety of phrases, she finally settled for a blunt question. “Were you responsible for the boots?” His expression gave nothing away. “Boots? I’m afraid I don’t take your meaning, Miss Peyton. Are you speaking in metaphor, or are we talking about actual footwear?” “Ankle boots,” Annabelle said, staring at him with open suspicion. “A new pair that was left inside the door of my room yesterday.” “Delighted as I am to discuss any part of your wardrobe, Miss Peyton, I’m afraid I know nothing about a pair of boots. However, I am relieved that you have managed to acquire some. Unless, of course, you wished to continue acting as a strolling buffet to the wildlife of Hampshire.” Annabelle regarded him for a long moment. Despite his denial, there was something lurking behind his neutral facade…some playful spark in his eyes…“Then you deny having given the boots to me?” “Most emphatically I deny it.” “But I wonder…if some one wished to have a pair of boots made up for a lady without her knowledge…how would he be able to learn the precise size of her feet?” “That would be a relatively simple task…” he mused. “I imagine that some enterprising person would simply ask a housemaid to trace the soles of the lady’s discarded slippers. Then he could take the pattern to the local cobbler. And make it worth the cobbler’s while to delay his other work in favor of crafting the new shoes immediately.” “That is quite a lot of trouble for someone to go through,” Annabelle murmured. Hunt’s gaze was lit with sudden mischief. “Rather less trouble than having to haul an injured woman up three flights of stairs every time she goes out walking in her slippers.” Annabelle realized that he would never admit to giving her the boots—which would allow her to keep them, but would also ensure that she would never be able to thank him. And she knew he had—she could see it in his face.

A High-(Peer-)Pressure System on the Horizon As we saw in the last chapter, the desire to project social status and affirm peer group affiliation can skew behavior in any context, for example, deciding which parts of our conversations we allow others to overhear, or changing one’s style of footwear to fit a social group’s tastes. But let’s examine how it changes the adoption curve in one of the most social-pressure-packed environments: high school. In 2011 I ran a study in Nigeria, which among many other things is the most populous country in Africa and a rich, if complex, prize for the company that can build market share there. Nigeria, like many countries in Africa, has a relatively young population, with a median age often half that of European or North American countries,* and technology adoption there reflects both a young and relatively price-sensitive demographic. Social networks are an inherent part of teenage life the world over, and in Africa arguably even more so because of the young, socially active demographic.