Sunday snapshot: The Shoe Shop

When I leave China, one of the things I’ll miss the most is the local shoe-key-zipper-random-repair-fix-it shack. I realize that’s a whole lot of words to describe a tiny building on wheels, but I assure you all words are necessary. In small towns in China, frugality is still quite respected. This fact means that if something breaks, you get it fixed…you don’t buy a replacement. Consequently, there are an abundance of hole in the wall places that specialize in fixing all kinds of everyday items.

So, when you’re walking around campus (this is purely hypothetical, of course) and the rubber tip of your heeled boots falls off adding an unintended limp to your step, you’re guaranteed to have a fix-it hut within 100 yards.

After crouching through the midget-sized door of the hut, you’ll be invited by the fix-it man’s helper/conversationalist/money collector to sit on the midget-sized bench. You remove the shoe, and he instantly gets to work.

You can entertain yourself by taking pictures of the process.

And the random items in the hut.

But, warning, the helper/conversationalist/money collector will likely want to see what you’re taking pictures of.

She’ll find it amusing that you’ve taken pictures of the fix-it man’s hands. You may not have the language capabilities to explain that the camera currently has a 50mm prime lens on it that, in the close confines of the shack, makes a shot of the whole profile of the fix-it man impossible. We’re talking either a shot of an eyeball or hands. As a shot of an eyeball seems to require an intimacy you don’t share with the fix-it man, you have selected the hands.

While you busy yourself with photography, the fix-it man will likely want to know how much your camera cost.

You tell him, because it’s a perfectly normal and acceptable question in China.

What’s assured is that ten minutes and 50 cents later, you’ll be on your way with a brand new limp-free bounce in your step, and a renewed love for how easy some things are to accomplish in China.