Petra’s Poll : Shoes, Cats and Tipping Points

I have a friend from a former life who confessed to having “18 or 20” cats in the house he shares with his wife. I asked just how in the hell you get to having that large and weirdly, an uncertain number of cats.

“Not sure, but somewhere we hit a number where the next one just did not seem to make a damn difference”.

So, it seems, it might be, dear friends, with shoes. There is an incremental cat, and there is an incremental shoe that puts the household on a practically unstoppable slope. I believe as well that they share a number. Hold your breath ladies, and beware the high heeled Tipping Point: Number 5.

I design polls (imperfectly yes, but adequately) with the expectation that a nice bell curved distribution will occur. Imperfect polls will typically show a warped bell, or a bell with a peak well to the left or right of the center, but still with a gradual incline up to and down from the peak data point.

Anytime you get a curve with 2 peaks though you have hit on what could be referred to as an anomaly, or a behavioral singularity. Our poll this week posing the question “How many pairs of shoes do you own” give us exactly that.

32% of survey respondents this week own between 3 and 5 pairs of women’s shoes. A smaller number (19%) have 6-10 and fewer again (16%) 11-20 pairs. And then the big spike at the end where 22% of respondents possess (or are possessed by) “more shoes than I can count”. In short, stumble into pair 6, and you will likey need off site storage for your out of season shoes.

I did a little secondary research to see if my too too small (but o so exclusive) survey sample was throwing me bad data. Over at crossdressers.com this past week a thread on the same topic was going on. My word, what an eye popper it all is. 75% of the respondents who put an actual estimate up on the board have more than 20 pairs, even after multiple wardrobe purges. Almost half of them have a staggering 100+ pairs of shoes. Many admit they are either powerless to stop or disinterested in trying to.

I for one felt a little embarrassed to admit to my puny (but very tasteful) collection of 5 pairs in such accomplished (obsessed?) company. But the tipping point in this sample is either 5 or 6 too (insert eerie music here….)!

My own 5th pair was reported on last week here, and it was a transformative experience for me. I feel like I am a more competent shoe shopper after a really successful and rewarding effort. I know there will be a 6th pair. I find myself looking at the footwear of GG’s with a more critical and envious eye these days. Even with all the data staring me in the face, I am lowering my guard, and will likely not repel borders. I will leave the drawbridge down and the castle gate open. God help me, my home is under siege.

Ah well, bring it on. My calves will look terrific.

But now for this weeks poll. It’s a simple one. Yes or No. No grey answers. Don’t think. Snap answers only. Very, very quickly now:

If there was a one-time, no side effect pill you could take that would get you past your cross dressing or transgendered desires, would you take it?

Do you have a question you would like an answered here? Let me know! And do enjoy your weekend.