This could only happen in Japan

Today I taught my adult English conversation class in Ome.

When I walked into class, I noticed one of my favorite students (we'll call him Number 1) was wearing new shoes. Actually, the shoes weren't new, but they were new shoes for him. He typically doesn't wear Adidas tennis shoes (pictured above). No! Instead, he usually wears some type of orthopedic, old man, walking shoe. You know, the kind every 72 year old grandpa wears. So, I was intrigued when I saw him in his new, very trendy tennis shoes.

I was like, hey, I like your shoes. He was like, oh thanks, but these aren't my shoes. He went on to tell me that he accidentally took/stole the shoes when he went to the onsen. (An onsen in a public Japanese bath.)

Apparently, he took his shoes off before entering the onsen building and carefully placed them in the shoe rack provided, which is typical in Japan (you have to take your freaking shoes off every damn place you go, but I'm not annoyed with it; not one damn bit), and when he returned, after his bath, he put the shoes on, walked out, drove home, and didn't realize he was wearing the wrong shoes until he took them off when he got to his house. By then, he had traveled over 50 km and wasn't about to go back to return the shoes to their rightful owner. So, he's been walking around in someone else's size 10 Adidas ever since.

After he told me this, the whole class was in hysterics. How could he put on someone else's shoes and not notice? I asked him this, and he was like, they were comfortable and black, and I thought they were mine. I was all, you didn't notice they weren't the same brand you typically wear? And he was all, I didn't notice because they felt like my shoes.

All I could do was laugh.

So, somewhere out there, someone is pissed off at Number 1 for stealing their cool, size 10, black Adidas.