sarahmichelef: (eye)
sarahmichelef ([personal profile] sarahmichelef) wrote2006-06-29 03:14 pm

(no subject)

In today's throwaway society (and I'm as guilty of this as the next person - this morning I pointed out to M that it was dumb to keep a broken plastic hangar when we can buy new ones 10 for a dollar), some of the services that used to be taken for granted are going away - the neighborhood tailor, the neighborhood shoe repair shop, etc.

Today I went to take in my Birkenstocks (which I bought on our honeymoon) to have the soles repaired - I was down to cork on one of them, and getting there on the other (I guess I walk asymmetrically!). The store is the ground floor of a house, owned by a seventy-something German guy. When I got there, he was shining up a pair of white patent-leather shoes for the previous customer - a tall thirty-something Black guy. I had some time to look around the shop while I waited... there were all the characteristic elements of the shoe repair shop... old shoes for sale, stacks of shoes and suitcases, etc. behind the counter. A big sign saying "No Checks or Credit Cards Accepted" another saying "Minimum Charge $3.50" and a third saying "Payment Required Before Service" (or something like that). And the cash register, which is huge, brass, and probably 50 years old.

When patent-leather-shoe-guy left, I told the owner what I wanted, and he said he hated to make me pay for whole new soles when it was just the heel that was worn... I told him that I'd had the back 1/3 of the soles on my Naots (which are the same style as the Birkenstock London) replaced. He said he could do that and would put on caps to protect the heels from wearing as much in the future. And then he cocked his head to the side, thought for a minute, and said "sixteen dollars." In accordance with the signs, I gave him a twenty. He gave me my change along with a much-re-used ID slip, and said, "Do you want to pick them up this afternoon?" I was surprised. "Sure, if you can get them done this afternoon, that would be great." "Yes, give me two, two and a half hours."

And I walked out with a wonderful feeling.

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