Red Cross mission

"I once met a man who had no shoes, and I pitied him. Until I met the man who had to carry those shoes". Something like that anyway. Works for me today. Back from a flying holiday visit to Milan. Left Sweden on Thursday morning, back again on Sunday afternoon. The official reason for the trip ? A football match. Time for a quick maths lesson first. Time spent in Milan: 76 hours. Duration of a football game: 90 minutes. Ever wondered how many pairs of Italian shoes one can buy in 74 and a half hours ? Come around to my house some time and I'll show you. You'll know it, it's the one with the mountain of empty shoe boxes blocking traffic outside the front door. Why is it that there must always be 3 additional options when buying shoes ? No matter how many you are actually planning to purchase. Looking for one pair of shoes, there's always 4 pairs lined up to be compared against. When I foolishly suggested that we really should limit ourselves to just buying 3 pairs at this shop, there were 6 lined up to choose from. And "plum" coloured shoes. Who buys plum coloured shoes ? Actually, dumb question, that one. But you don't have any plum coloured clothes !! Mind you, I knew the moment I said that, I was in trouble. An easily fixed problem. Why do I never learn ? Now, I might be the bad southern cousin of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. But who can say no when the tears well up in those eyes, the lip quivers, and the tiny voice whispers "but look at the heel". That's why we went with 2 extra suitcases. And why I like eating beans.