Brittney, the Tapgirl Princess

At first, it was hard to say what started the women of the town of Forest Glen along the path they took. One might not think that women in their 20's, and particularly not women in their 30's or 40's would simply copy the styles and fads of the teenage set--at least no one in town ever remembered anything like that happening before. And it would be hard to think that just a few women, like stylish marketing manager Mrs. Johnson or adventurous English teacher Ms Wilms, could influence hundreds of young and middle-aged women in this town to follow their lead so quickly. Some thought that the person most responsible was Sam DiMaggio, the shoe repairman, who'd been known to suggest metal taps to women who came into his shop and who had a way with words and a debonair appearance that might melt the most obstinate woman in town. But whatever the cause, it was pretty clear by late Spring that young, attractive women-- professionals, office workers, salesladies, waitresses, bargirls, and even teachers and nurses--all over town were beginning to walk around clickety-clicking to and fro with steel-plated heels, just like Brittney and her friends at Forest Glen High.



The types of shoes women wore with steel taps on them had more variety than what you'd see on at the high school. Sure, there were the typical daytime wear of loafers and flats and mid-heel pumps that women had taps attached to. But tap-wearing even extended to the rubber-soled working shoes of waitresses, nurses, and sales clerks, who had to be on their feet all day at the restaurant, hospital, or chain store where they worked. When Sam was first asked by Peggy Alonzo, a 40'ish ash-blonde waitress at Greg's Lunchroom located almost next door to Sam's Shoe Repair, to put metal taps on her rubber-bottomed shoes, he declined.



"I'd like to do that Peggy, but on those rubbery heels, metal taps would sound too much like little girls' dancing shoes, and they might not even stay attached!"



But waitresses like Peggy are even more obstinate than the Italian shoemaker, and she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Then Sam remembered that he had some old-timey iron taps from England that came with built-in prongs as well as holes for nails, and he recalled that they didn't clink like the Eagle taps do on soft rubber heels. So that's what he started using for the nurses and others who came in for taps on that type of shoe.



But for the most part, the women in Forest Glen who most often asked Sam for metal taps for their footwear were professionals and office workers who had to look their best for business. They usually wore dressy chunky-heeled pumps and loafers and colorful flats and sandals to work and more party shoes when they went out at night. One Friday afternoon, not long after the brief student strike at the high school over their right to wear metal taps, Brittney ran into one of these young women professionals--someone, in fact, who Brittney had just met three weeks earlier and who hadn't been wearing taps then, at least not that Brittney had noticed.



On that Friday, just as Brittney was finishing her smoking break and going back to her cash register station at Reed's Drug Store in the mall, she heard some unmistakable tappity-tap sounds ahead of her. She looked up and saw that the sounds were coming from some dressy beige-and-brown mid-heeled sandals worn by a stylish twenty-something blonde woman--they looked rather large on those chunky 2-inch heels--could even be #5 Eagle taps, she thought. Brittney immediately recognized the woman as Kelly Clark, the reporter who had interviewed her the day of the strike. Brittney called out to her and soon they were in animated conversation.



Ms. Clark, as it turns out, had been intrigued by the students' clear enjoyment of the taps they had on their school shoes. The very next day, as she told Brittney, she had gone into Sam's Shoe Repair and had him fit some smallish #3 taps to the heels of the dressy flats she had been wearing that day. She liked the clicky sounds they made so much that every day for the next week, she'd brought in three or four more pair of her shoes to become steel-plated. Now all of her flats, loafers, and sandals, even the dressy pair she was wearing that Friday afternoon, sported reasonably large half-moon taps at the heel and the toe. She'd also had steel heel tips put on the several pairs of 3" to 4" stiletto heels she wore to the television station each day.



"I even had Sam put full-heel dance taps on some cute red 2-inch pumps that I love to dance in, and--get this--I had my black platform boots fitted with horseshoe plates and also taps on the sides and front of the soles, just like the ones on the boots you were wearing that day at school when you were on strike!"



"Wow, Ms. Clark! You really have gotten into taps, haven't you!" cried Brittney. She was actually quite pleased that she and her high school friends had had such an effect on this stylish, slightly-older, and clearly more experienced, woman.



"Yeah, I guess I have," laughed Ms. Clark. "That morning when strike ended and I interviewed you on camera, you gave me the idea. But actually, the reason I ended up putting them on all of my shoes is that when I was leaving Sam's shop with my first pair of tapped-up shoes, I ran into a good friend of mine, Sally Olson. Sally and I both noticed that we each had metal taps on our shoes, and we started talking about them. Sally's an interior decorator, and I asked her about the marks and scratches on the floors that your principal was complaining about. She laughed and said it was an old wives tale and that she'd started wearing steel-tipped spike heels a few weeks earlier and hadn't noticed any effect on the floors of the places she was working in. She also said that she liked the clicky sounds that the steel spikes made, so she'd been taking all of her other shoes in to Sam's to have metal taps put on the heels and soles. So between your encouragement and Sally's example, I just went ahead and had all my shoes and boots done that way too!"



"I even ran a story on wearing taps on the 6:30 news one day that week. Did you see it?" asked Kelly.



"Shit! No! I didn't even hear about it!" cried Brittney. "I guess that's cuz me and none of my friends ever watch the news. That is so cool that you did that. I'd love to see the tape!"



"I will get a copy to you," replied Kelly. "I started the feature by talking about your strike at the high school, and I interviewed a girl from your school. I think her name was Cherie Schmidt."



"Oh, like was she sweet and cute, with a long blonde pony tail?" asked Brittney. Kelly nodded and smiled in affirmation. "I know her. I got her to put taps on her shoes even though her parents didn't like her doing that."



"Yes, that's what she told me, too," said Kelly. "But you'll never believe this. Cherie said that after awhile, not only didn't her mom mind Cherie having taps on her shoes, but Mrs. Schmidt decided she liked hearing the clicky sounds so much that she went and had metal taps put on some of her own shoes, too! I even interviewed her for the feature!"



"Wow!" replied Cherie. "So even old Mrs. Schmidt is wearing taps, huh?"



"Yeah," Kelly continued. "In the feature, of course I showed off the new taps I'd put on my own shoes. I had my cameraman photograph me from the back as I walked ahead in my shiny red flats, and he zoomed in on the back of the heels so the big metal heel taps could be easily seen. Then I changed into a bright yellow dress and put on my black patent leather 4-inch heel pumps and had him focus in on the gold-colored metal tips I'd put on their stiletto heels."



"Actually, it was one of the best segments I've done this year. I've heard from lots of women-- and from Sam DiMaggio at the shoe shop too--that it's inspired women all over town to go in and get metal taps attached to their shoes and boots!"



"I'm not surprised," said Brittney. "I've kind of been noticing adults in taps more lately, at least here at the mall where you can really hear the clicky sounds when people walk. But I didn't know that it was cuz of your news show, and, I guess, indirectly, because of me!"



That pleased Brittney a great deal. Kelly got Brittney's address so she could send her a tape of the feature segment she'd broadcast; then she continued on into the store to buy the items she'd come there for. As Kelly walked on, Brittney thought about how awesome she looked in her classy bright blonde hair, her spiffy pants suit, and her heeled sandals, and of course she loved the clicky sounds her shoes made as they tapped against the store's tile floor. But also, she reflected, "What a cool job Kelly has. Being a reporter would be so much more fun than just working this stupid cash register."



In a few minutes, when Kelly came by again to make her purchases Brittney asked her what it was like to be a news reporter.



"Brittney, it's awesome! I get to walk all around the town and meet lots of people who are always really nice to me. I don't know if it's because they all want to be on T.V., or what, but I have a great time doing this."



"I would love to be a TV reporter," said Brittney. "If there's any chance you could hire me as your assistant, that would be totally awesome!"



"Well, Brittney, we will probably have openings for a summer intern. I will let you know if that happens. One thing, though, you'd have to interview for the intern job with my boss, Mr. Woods, and he is a little demanding. I'll have to tell you about it someday, but not now--it's a long story, and I'm kind of in a hurry." So with a smile, Kelly turned and clicked her way out of the store, and into Brittney's dreams.