So, grab the beverage of your choice and settled down because I am going to tell you a story.
Are you sitting comfortably? Good, because we are about to travel back to the summer of 2019 when I did something I had never done before, I bought a pair of trainers from Marks & Spencers!
I spotted them in the window display, went to the shoe section but, did they have my size? No, they didn't! In fact, when an assistant checked their system, they didn't have any left, absolutely sold out, except. one pair which happened to be my size and should have been in this very branch! The assistant checked the shoe section, then she disappeared into the stock room and checked every nook and cranny but , nope! She came back shaking her head
"They are definitely not here, it's possible they were stolen, it happens sometimes". But, wait! I saw a pair in the window display!
Five minutes later, we were standing in the womenswear section staring at a mannequin in the window and, on it's feet were the missing trainers! Without hesitation, the assistant rolled up her sleeves, clambered into the window display, wrestled the mannequin to the ground, removed the trainers, checked the size and then waved them at me triumphantly
"We found them!"
Were the trainers worth the drama? Absolutely. I loved the drama and the trainers
Hold on tight because, we're now hurtling towards an unseasonably warm and sunny day in February and the year 2023. Are you with me?
It happened again! A glance in Marks & Spencer's window and there they were, the exact style and colour of trainers I had been looking for but this time, they had one pair of 4 1/2's, tried them on and they fitted but, then I spotted a flaw; a tiny scrape of fabric peeled away on the tongue just where the laces stopped

It just wasn't to be, I wanted a perfect pair and that tiny mark would irritate me every time I wore them.
A few days ago, on a very chilly late February day, I popped into Marks and, just on the off chance, I checked the shoe section but, no joy. I got my food bits and was just leaving the store when I remembered the palaver on that balmy summer day two years ago when perseverance triumphed. I turned round, marched through the womenswear section checking the mannequins' feet and, guess what! there were rows of trainers on the shelves below the displays. Without the help of my 2019 assistant, I strode round and checked every pair of trainers until I came to the very last pair, I flipped them over! Yes! a size 5 and they fitted with my trainer socks!
So, the morale of the story my dear forum peeps is never give up and, of course, everyone lived happily ever after.