So i leave work today and head down to a shoe repair shop here in town. A pair of shoes I have had about 20 years seems to be losing a heel. I noticed it was aligatoring about a week ago. I walk in to the little strip mall shoe repair shop that has probably been here for 20 -30 years. The small narrow shop has a counter, a fan, several pair of shoes on wooden shelves, and an old Chinese (Korean?) woman and man working there. The smell of leather and shoe polish fills the air. the little hand written sign on the counter says "No checks, No Credit Cards". I place the shoes on the counter. The woman says something to me that I can't understand. She points to the shoes and says "rooberleffer?" to which i reply "Huh?" she says rooberleffer again. I shake my head, shrug, and point to the shoe: "Soles and heels". she mumbles something and goes to the back behind a half wall and gets Song Hwang. Song comes out and picks up the old shoes and says : you wanna leffer or roober? Now it makes sense, he is saying leather or rubber soles. being a cheap ass SOB my first question is which is cheaper? he shakes his head stares at me like he has done this a thousand times and says "boofsamemoony, boofsamemoony". I am learning the language and understand this now as "Both are the same price..both same money". Being the sharp consumer that I am, i press the issue...Which is better? He looks at me like I am a 3 year old jabbering. He goes back behind the wall brings out two shoes. flips them over and shows me that one has a rubber sole and one has a leather sole. he repeats "Boofsame, Boofsame". I point to the leather one. He mummbles to his wife and walks to the back. Apparently done with his translation duties.
She says "satdaykay...satdaykay"...i reply yes saturday will be fine. She makes a note on the ticket with that slanted tic-tac-toe chinese writing , tears the claim ticket off and hands it to me. picks up my shoes, turns and goes back to the back of the shop behind the half wall.
I pick up a business card. says they are open from monday - friday 8 am to 6 pm. saturdays 9 to 4. I think about someone coming form a foreign country and starting out here from scratch. Dont know the language, cant read a sign, the radio is charlie brown wa wa wa wa wa, and probably flat ass broke. They find a place to live, start a business, and work their butts off for years. 50 -60 hours a week. Don't complain, pay taxes, learn the language, have children. They had it rough and had to pinch pennies for years.......and now feel like they are living large. They will work in this same shop till the man dies. Then the woman will retire and go live with her oldest children. She will help with the meals, clean house, and do the wash. Some days she will sit in the rocker by the windoow and feel the sunshine on her thin cotton dress. She will think about the days spent in the little shop and the time she and her husband were together. Brown bag lunches shared for 60 -70 years, babies, deaths, and weddings. I hear the lyrics from a john mellencamp song going thru my head:
there's a black man with a black cat
Livin' in a black neighborhood
He's got an interstate runnin' through his front yard
You know he thinks that he's got it so good
and i think maybe just maybe they do have it good.
