Elizabeth had heard about alligator shoes for years and finally thought it might be time to buy some.  The problem was where?  If she bought them online, they might not fit right, or they could be from China and made with questionable materials, but she just couldn’t find anything at the mall that would fit or look good in any kind of material.  One snotty young shoe store clerk with spiky pink hair, enough metal ornamentation in piercings to start her own metal recycling business, and earbuds so loud that Elizabeth could hear the hip hop boom and percussion from ten feet away sneered, “Looks like you’re stuck with flip flops, girl”. . . . . . David, Sf.G.