A Simple Pleasure in San Francisco
No too long ago, I was in San Francisco. Great city. And it's summer. One of my favourite things to do there, apart from stuffing my face ( which we'll get to soon ), is a simple but professional shoe shine.
Along Market Street, there are at least two shoe-shine booths. This particular one is in front of Virgin Megastore. The contraption above is where one rests one of his feet.
Both booths are manned by African-American gentlemen. Soul music blasts from their masta-blastas. On this occassion, it was Percy Sledge, Barry White, Otis Redding and The Platters. These were the few that I could identify.
For 7 US$, your shoes get the deluxe treatment which is claimed to retain the out-of-the-shop shine for at least two weeks. For 20 bucks more, the leather gets the ultimate treatment, which is going to make your walkabouts appear spanking new for 3 months! Being a cheap dude on a budget, I sheepishly declined the superior service. So Mr.D then got working on mah shoes.....
...while his partner, dozed holding his cup of coffee. Must have been the regular ashtray-brew most diners serve in the country. Free and unlimited pouring! But I digress.
Mr D started by rolling up my jeans a notch, before cleaning my Florsheim boots ( purchased at 50% off from One U) with what seemed like soapy water. Then it was an assortment of creams and black polish, and cream again.
After what seemed like 20 minutes ( judging by the number of soulful singing from the masta blastas) , he was applying the finishing buff. Voila! I was eight bucks poorer, with a pair of shiny boots. An extra buck for the tip.
To me, it is money well spent. It is a simple yet fulfilling pleasure. Simply because I am TOO LAZY to polish my own shoes.
