Friday, August 19, 2011

Let the Shoeshine In

I did something the other day that I rarely do--I polished my shoes. Or, to be more accurate, I polished my sandals, which I wear almost exclusively in the summer.  They were scuffed and dirty, and while I wasn't going to attend any gala balls in them, I just decided it was time to give them a shine.  So I dug out the shoeshine shoe box (appropriate, wouldn't you say?), selected a bottle of Kiwi's finest quick shine, complete with an attached applicator, and laid on a smooth even coat of wax. Or polish. Or whatever.  My sandals looked great!  Almost great enough to compensate for my ugly feet.(Not being modest: they are indeed ugly.) Then I was off to whatever occasion had caused me to undertake this rare activity.

I still see shoeshine stands in places like airports and train stations so I suppose that people still shine their shoes or have them shined.  I read somewhere that one could judge a man's character by how well his shoes were shined.  I'm not sure of that as a moral index, but it does seem that shining shoes has diminished in popularity in recent years. It could have to do with fewer people wearing leather shoes.  When I taught high school, the school required that the students wear leather shoes--no sports shoes or sandals or flip-flops.  Many students had to go out and buy a pair.  I also spent a good deal of time tying ties for students who never wore one.  I didn't attempt to do this on the student: I tied it on myself and slipped it over my head and put it around the student's neck.  I couldn't handle the cognitive shift necessary to tie a tie on someone else.

So, shoeshine people. professional or personal, here's to you. As Dionne Warwick sang, "Keep smiling, keep shining!"

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