Sensible Shoes are Trying to Kill Me

I think my shoes are trying to kill me.  Death by sore feet!  I'm sure of it.  I like to wear high heels to work because, as impractical as they sometimes are, it boosts my height so that I can look people in the eye.  Without my heels everyone seems to tower over me and I feel small and hobbit like.  I actually made the decision to downgrade my heels, sensibly concluding they were perhaps a little bit too high for work.  But these heels have never caused me pain.  They're pointy, they're high, but they've never caused me pain.  It just seemed like I'd be in less danger of falling down the stairs and sinking in the grass with a slightly more sensible pair.  Only slightly more sensible mind you.  They still have a heel.  So I bought my slightly more sensible pair of shoes at the bargain price of $10.  I tried them on.  They seemed to fit.  The heel was reasonable.  But these heels have had me in agony for the past few days.  They're absolutely horrendous.  And of course you don't realise this in the shop.  You realise this half way through the day when you're carrying around boxes of brochures and realise there's a burning in the balls of your feet and your toes have lost all sensation.  It's a wonder I didn't fall over then and there.  After a mere few hours these shoes have reduced me to a hobbling mess.  I was forced to remove the shoes and wander around barefoot.  Luckily for me, no one can see my feet when I'm serving them, but I was horribly aware of people towering over me.  I felt so small!  And a failure.  I can handle heels.  I have massive heels.  And these sensible shoes had thwarted me.  The shame.  The shame.  I'm still not quite sure what it is about them that that cause me so much pain.  Maybe they just need wearing in.  Stretching out.  Maybe I need to see if Mystical Roo will wear them round the house for a bit.  You can picture it now!  All I know is that my feet are still hurting and I've been home from work for two hours now.  And no I'm not still wearing the shoes.  Perhaps I'm out of practice after having three weeks off of work.  Maybe three weeks worth of flip flop wearing has rendered me weak!  Or perhaps, sensible shoes aren't so sensible.  If I'm ok in my sky scrapers but the sensible shoes hurt my feet then the solution is obvious.  I must return to the high, high heels.  It's the only way.