So there you are in the shoe department of the sporting-goods store, surreptitiously scanning the shelves. You pass the 10s, the 11s.

"What size are you looking for?" asks the kid who works there.

You mumble the answer.

"What?"

A clearer mumble.

"WHAT?"

You turn to face him, lifting one paddle off the ground while steadying yourself against the sock display.

"22! 22! 22! You got a problem with that?"

Next time you see the clerk, he's laughing with friends in the duck decoy section.

There is hope, though, for those with large feet (which some people find rather endearing):

1. Click on www.largefeet.com and you'll get hooked up to Friedman's Shoes in Atlanta. The store sells men's sizes up to 22, women's up to 13.

2. Try www.oddballshoe.com for men's athletic shoes up to size 20.

3. On www.2bigfeet.com , we found a pair of men's cross-trainers up to size 17XXW (if you wear that size, we figure you understand that lingo).

4. On www.6pm.com , some women's run as high as size 11, some men's a compact 18. We particularly like the name of the athletic-shoe category: "Sneakers." Simple, basic, to-the-point.

5. Here's www.shoebuy.com, which calls workout shoes "athletic" and offers them in a variety of sizes.

Leslie Garcia