So, I guess the Air Jordan XIII was hard to find after its Dec. 11 release date. Apparently, the hype was strong, so sneakerheads were encouraging campouts to guarantee they received their pairs.

The Altitude XIIIs hadn’t been seen since 2005, when they boasted a leather side panel. This new release was skipping the leather and slapping us with mesh instead. I wanted to pretend that the change was a big deal for me.

The Saturday the Altitudes released, I strolled around NY casually, convincing myself that I was boycotting these sneakers for no real reason. It wasn’t until the evening, after a nice dinner with my lady, where we decided I should probably squeeze the trigger.

We walked into a smallish Foot Locker on E. 42nd Street, between Third and Lexington Avenues. They didn’t even receive a shipment, but they did tell us the monster Foot Locker in Times Square had plenty. It was now a mission.

We soldiered crosstown, entering Foot Locker with an objective.

“Welcome to Foot Locker. How can we he…” began an employee before I interjected.

“I’m here for the Altitudes in an 11 or 11.5,” I said with unflinching focus and determination. And then the employees rumbled.

Two employees darted through the floor displays, racing to be the person who retrieved the shoes for me. I felt special. Maybe my clear intention to buy the shoes guaranteed them a commission. That has to be refreshing in a place where people come in to try shoes and walk out with nothing.

Nonetheless, I was still surprised to read about sneakerheads’ troubles when trying to secure their own pairs. Disappointed fiends across the web shared their “sold out” experiences and I simply couldn’t relate.

Enough about me. The odd thing about this shoe is that it’s a different size from the Flint 13s I bought a week prior. Maybe it was the socks I was wearing, or the time of day when I tried the different pairs on, but my Flint XIIIs are an 11.5, while these Altitudes are an 11.