are you sure those are YOUR flip-flops??

a few months ago, i walked out of vinnie marino's class at yoga works, reached for the cubby in the lobby where i had left my metallic gray havaiana flip-flops, and found it empty. stunned, i checked the other cubbies and found a pair that looked exactly like my silver duo. i put them on, and to my relief, they fit (of course, i happen to wear the same size as most other women).

but i kept wondering if they were really the same pair i walked in with. did someone forget where they had stashed theirs, saw mine, and took them, thinking (and/or hoping) that it was theirs? or did someone take my pair, realize it wasn't theirs, and put them back in another cubby? since there was no way of knowing, i went ahead and took the pair i found, scrubbed them with detergent and VERY hot water when i got home, and swore never to leave my good flip-flops in the public bins ever again.

then sometime last week, i found this posting on the yogahop lost and found webpage:

Brown Havaiana Flip-Flops - SWITCHED!
9/27/2006
If you took home the wrong Brown Havaiana flip-flops during the first two weeks of September, return them. Your Flip-Flops are here awaiting an overdue reunion.

and last night, i found a note posted on the yoga works main street bulletin board that said something to this effect:

if you took my brown havaianas by mistake, please call xxx-xxx-xxxx...

so is the same scatterbrained yoga student responsible for all these brown havaiana mix-ups?

(and wouldn't you know it; i just happened to buy myself a brown pair a few weeks ago. needless to say, i'm now leaving them at home when i go to yoga class.)

anyway, if you're one of those who gets so blotto after savasana that you can never seem to remember where you left your flip-flops, there may be hope for you yet.

you can either wear something so unusual that there's almost no chance that anyone else has the same pair as yours. or you can put something in the cubby that uniquely identifies it as yours. like maybe a folded class schedule, or the cup you were holding when you walked into the studio.

on the other hand, if you're one of those who feels the need to take someone else's flip-flops because they look better than yours, shame on you! may the karma gods strike you with a painful back spasm while you're doing an intense backbend... and may the pain persist until you return all the pairs you stole!

in the meantime, my flip-flops will continue to follow me right into the asana room, where they sit hidden under my folded yoga mat bag. after all, what you can't see, you can't take...