Lil' Gumshoe

Last night, we were sitting in a restaurant in the North End, laughing at Young Bo's many ridiculous stories of walking into elevator doors ("OK, so these elevators are like mirrors-" "You mean the golden doors?  You thought they were gold mirrors?"  "And that doesn't explain why you walked into them.  Do you often walk into mirrors?"), when Joel sauntered by, a pair of shoes in hand, and another pair on his feet.

As he placed his order, we began placing bets on why he had his shoes in hand.

Nik's theory was the most straight forward and both Matt and Joel thought it was the most plausible (though was as incorrect as the rest of ours):  He had left the shoes in his car and were now bringing them home.  (I think that raises more questions than answers- why did he have an extra pair in the car and why were they going home with him now?)

I posited that Joel had pried the shoes off of a dead man's feet.  (Perhaps discovered when he was checking out real estate.  Totally the most logical.)  And was summarily shot down.  I didn't stay down for long though, because Young Bo's earnest imagination was even more whack than mine, and she sold it with even more self-belief.

Young Bo': Joel had gone on a blind date and prepared two pairs of shoes, one with thicker soles than the other.  Thus, if a girl had turned up taller than expected, he could quickly go into the bathroom and change his shoes.  This was the first and most reasonable explanation that entered her mind.  Some people have to work hard at absurdity.  Some people are just born with it.