shoe repair man

I bought these shoes a while ago (when I was still in Texas). I fell in love with them, they're based on a shoe style by Steve Madden. They were the last pair, and they had a bit of a heel problem. But they were too cute, and too Thoroughly Modern Millie/roaring 20s to pass them up. So I bought them for full price even though they were a little injured. It's like seeing a wounded puppy in a pound; you can't say no.

Eventually I found the shoe repair shop, walked through the doors saying, "Excuse me, hello, Sir?" and I still ended up startling the poor old man when he turned around. His npr radio station was on a little loud (probably because he was a tad hard of hearing). The repair man looked oddly familiar, and I associated his looks to little dolls I've seen, comical caricature dolls I've seen (look like wood or porcelain or something), but I couldn't quite place his familiarity... until the visit I had yesterday when I picked up my shoes.

This time I had a method for not startling him: stand at the door and knock very loudly. He heard me after a couple of tries. Improvement! He came up to the counter after placing a pair of worn boots down and asked which were mine. He asked how much he said he'd charge me. I recounted to him he said it would only be a dollar, but I thought he had been kidding. He said, "then that will be just a dollar." That's when I noticed his register. Beautiful antique!! And since I'm now an antiquing expert, I have an eye for these things, right? hm. I commented on it and he said he'd sell it to me. I laughed and said, "You wouldn’t, it’s too pretty! ..How much?” He said, "$80,000." My mouth dropped and my eyes widened...so I do have an eye for these sort of things. He said "it'll be worth something some day." To that I replied, "aren't they already?" Then he told me they were selling these registers for $68,000! I just handed him my dollar and said, "oh it's beautiful, and thanks for fixing my shoes!" Just as he smiled, the phrase "Tha'll do pig, tha'll do" came ringing through my head and that's when I realized just who he looked so much like!!

I raced home and pulled up a picture of Farmer Arthur Hoggett from the movie Babe. He looked exactly like him, just a little older with some big glasses on. It was an epiphany and felt like a breakthrough. I told Mark all about him and am waiting anxiously for another shoe to break so Mark can go back with me to see the resemblence.

I'm so glad my shoe is 'feeling better'. Now that it has glue and a nail holding it in place, I'm sure they'll last a life time. I have the Mr. Hoggett look-a-like to thank. What a charming shoe repair man.