The Other Shoe...

Dear Reader,

I am sorry I was a tad morose last week. Actually, that is not true, I am not sorry at all. These feelings have to be lived and pushing them down really does not help.

I have a puzzle for you today and I need your input.

I am trying to understand  a North American expression that a lot of my US/Canadian friends and clients use. They will say something like "I am having a great week, but I am waiting for the other shoe to drop"

When I first heard that, I had no idea what they were talking about so they told me how in the early days of emigration, when people lived in terrible conditions, the ceilings and walls were so thin that you could hear people take their shoes off. One after the other. And if you only heard one fall on the floor, you waited for the other one to fall. With a sense of dread. Where the dread comes from remains a mystery but there we are.

I guess, it is a bit like saying "touch wood" as we say in Europe, but that is to bring you luck.

No.

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop is about expecting things to go wrong.

You know me, the one who tries to look on the bright side, most of the time. So I was baffled. Why would anyone expect things to go wrong?

The answer apparently is "Not to be disappointed?"

How so?

Still baffled, I asked, How so?

"Because if you expect things to go wrong and they do, then you are ok".

OK? What do you mean? You don't celebrate when things go right in case they go wrong? Or do you mean you expect things to go wrong as a kind of weird talisman that they will not?

I need you help here, Dear Reader, what on earth are we going to do about this?

Answers in the comments please

With love

Baya

If you would like to explore odd patterns of behavior that  no longer make you happy, do check out my website www.baya.ie.