Manolo says, here is the Manolo’s latest column for the Express of the Washington Post.

Dear Manolo,

I’m a poor girl starting at the bottom of the corporate ladder, and I need something that is both cheerful and not terribly expensive to wear to work this spring.

Laura

Manolo says, ah the bottom of the corporate ladder. How the Manolo remembers those long ago days in his first job, starting on the lowest rung as the Second Assistant Shoeshine Boy in the shoe shop of the Mercurio Albornoz y Bahamonde.

Yes, the pay was not much—the few fistfuls of pesetas and all the lunchroom leftovers he could steal—but the opportunity for advancement was unlimited.

And through hard work and dedication and the long and arduous hours of polishing the Manolo eventually managed to climb the ladder of success, all the way up to the exalted position of Associate Shoeshine Boy in Charge of Laces! He even had his own corner box on which he could squat while he labored!

Ayyyyyy! Those were heady days of success for the young Manolo.

But, then, sadly, the shoe shining was outsourced to street urchins and the Manolo found himself having to start all over again at the ripe age of thirteen. But such is corporate life.

Here is the Cargo from the Franco Sarto, the cute and breezy wedge heel shoe that would enliven the spring day of corporate climbing.