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I didn't believe a stranger who said, "I know where you got those shoes!"

Writer's picture: Floyd VanDeburghFloyd VanDeburgh

Updated: Aug 13, 2021

I was in a conversation with some friends the other day and one of them reminded me of the time I went on my first trip to New Orleans and lost a $20 bet.


It was a few months after we had moved to Mississippi in 2009 so that my wife could be nearer to help my mother-in-law who was in poor health. We could live just about anywhere as long as I had an airport nearby so I could travel for my work.


My first visit to New Orleans


Though Sharon had been there many times in her growing up years, I had never visited the city of New Orleans. Since it is only about three hours south of where we live, I suggested that we make a weekend trip there. So, we scheduled a time when we could get away, made a hotel reservation and set off to see the sites and experience the unique culture of that Louisiana city.


The first evening we visited the French Quarter and had a nice dinner in a restaurant. Afterwards we wandered around and listened to some live jazz music. Then I suggested that we walk down Bourbon Street to see what it was like. I can now tell you that as a result of that walk I have been to Bourbon Street TWICE—my first, and my last time!


Beignets at Cafe Du Monde and a “No Lose” wager


The next morning Sharon said that we should visit the famous Cafe Du Monde on Jackson Square and sample their chicory coffee and famous beignets. It was in a lovely setting on a beautiful late spring morning with a lot of people out and about. We had to wait for several minutes to get a table. I discovered that I’m not much of a fan of chicory coffee but the beignets were good and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast together.


Afterward we decided to stroll around the square and look at the statues and enjoy the beautiful flowers that were blooming. As we were leisurely walking along a sidewalk I noticed a gentleman coming toward us and, as we passed each other, I heard him casually say, “I know where you got those shoes.”


There was no one else around at the moment. No one was with him. He wasn’t talking on his phone. So, apparently he was speaking to me. Normally I wouldn’t pay much attention to something like that, especially from a stranger, but his comment caught my attention because I happened to be wearing that morning a pair of shoes that I had bought in Bucaramanga, Colombia. That South American city is well known for its leather working industry and I found a great quality pair of shoes at a reasonable price on one of my ministry trips there. I have met few people who have ever been to Bucaramanga and most have never even heard of it. There was no way that he could have known where I got those shoes!


I reasoned that he thought he might have recognized the shoes as similar to some sold in a store in New Orleans. Perhaps he was even a shoe salesman who noticed things like that and as he walked by he just commented that he knew where I got my shoes.


So, I turned as he was walking on down the sidewalk and said, “What did you just say?”


He stopped and turned back with a friendly smile on his face and said, “I told you that I know where you got those shoes.”


I replied. “No, you don’t. There is no way you can know where I got these shoes.”


He shrugged and then said, “Well, I am so confident that I know where you got those shoes I will bet you $20 that I can tell you.”


I’m not a betting man


Now, you’ve got to know that I am not a betting man. Never have been. I wouldn’t even play penny ante poker when I was a kid because I hated the thought of even the possibility of losing my precious pennies to someone else! I loathe the idea of parting with my money that way. I believe, as well, that gambling is not a wise thing to do. I’ve never really betted on anything when it has to do with the possibility of losing money, but this was too good to be true! I knew there was no way I could lose this wager.


So, I said to him, just to make sure I understood what this stranger I had never met was asking me to wager on, “Okay, let me be sure what the deal is here. You just said that you will bet me $20 that you can tell me where I got these shoes that I am wearing today. If you lose, you pay me 20 bucks. If you tell me correctly, I pay you $20. Right?”


Without blinking and eye he said, “Yep. That’s the deal.”


“You’re on,” I said confidently. “Tell me where you think I got these shoes.”


“I will,” he said, “but just to sweeten the deal, I’m not only going to tell you where you got those shoes, but I’m also going to tell you how many children you had, plus I will spell your last name.”


That was ridiculous, and at that point I starting getting a little suspicious (as if I shouldn’t have been in the first place!) Maybe he might guess how many kids we had, but he would never be able to tell me where I got my shoes and it was equally impossible that he knew how to spell my unusual last name of VanDeburgh. Why, I don’t think I really learned how to spell it correctly myself until I was in middle school! But, by this time I had already committed and so I somewhat reluctantly said, “Okay. Tell me.”


Without hesitation he said. “Well, you got those shoes on your feet. And, you didn’t have any of your kids. Your wife here had them. And you spell your last name, Y-O-U-R---L-A-S-T---N-A-M-E.”


"One born every minute!"


He got me—on a semantic technicality, I might have argued, but he was right on all three counts! He seemed to be a good natured fellow with a big grin on his face. So, I laughed and said, “Somehow, I don’t think that was quite fair, but we made a deal,” while I pulled a $20 bill out of my wallet and handed it over and Sharon rolled her eyes over my gullibility.


He thanked me and parted by saying, “Chalk it up to experience and realize I just did you a favor. Other people around here are going to tell you they know where you got your shoes…and now you know!”


With that he jauntily walked away, whistling a tune and I imagined him thinking that he probably agreed with Mr. Barnum, “There’s a sucker born every minute!”


So, here’s fair warning. If you’re ever in New Orleans walking around Jackson Square outside Cafe Du Monde and a stranger walks by and murmurs, “I know where you got those shoes,” just keep your wallet in your pocket and keep walking no matter if you bought them in Bucaramanga, Colombia!





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