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The Language of Shoes
Column
The Language of Shoes
Mr. Bootblack is a philosopher with distinct views of his own. He earns a living cleaning shoes. Once every two weeks he writes an article about footwear for GDS – and about the wearers.
“Hey, you’re Mister Bootblack!” I didn’t know the man or his wife either. He had one of those little cameras hanging round his neck with the zoom lenses that extend out like a fire engine ladder. The couple were both wearing comfortable shoes. Tourists. Then the man waves at me with a book. I nod. “Hope you have a good day, Sir,” I say while he taps excitedly on a page. He then shows the book to me – there I am in his guidebook. My stand. “Best shoe care in the USA”. And “unashamedly old-fashioned”. It’s always worse when the well-meaning are so clueless. Luckily, at that moment Robert goes past in his underpants. “Do you know the Naked Cowboy?” I ask pointing after him. “Oh!” they both cry at once, running behind him, the man nestling his camera on his shoulder. “Tomorrow I’ll come by with my shoes,” the man manages to shout back at me - out of breath. Well at least I don’t have celebrity status yet.
You have to respect Robert Burck, the Naked Cowboy – standing there like he does in all weathers at Times Square wearing little more than his boots, hat and a guitar. I have to smile when I see him and the tourists love him. Where else but here in the capital of the world can a man make a career of this? He sings and has muscles. Beyond that he’s pretty crazy and I don’t want to think about his plan to stand as Tea Party candidate in the next presidential elections – particularly since this says a lot about my country where this might even seem possible. Where else but here – here where standing out in a crowd constitutes merit per se?
I am not sure how I feel about this. I admire people who stand out. Not always, but at least the ones who dare to put themselves in the limelight. I wouldn’t be able to do that myself. I might be the kind of person who likes to stand out, but not to everyone – only to those able to read very specific signs.
We live in a world of symbols and that’s just fine. Brands, for instance. To the women going past my stand, for example, the shoes they wear are often just as important as the manufacturer behind the shoes. They are symbols within symbols – high heels stand for self-confident sex appeal, and style stands for the flowing balance between class and obtrusiveness. You really have to go pretty in depth to describe the fine line between a pair of trendy Gucci pumps and the kind of shoes sold in stores specialising in strippers’ attire. The two are similar, as are heel heights and other features. But the results are as about as different as a Boeing Dreamliner flying into JFK and a stunt kite on the Jersey Shore. You can only understand the key aspects when you speak the language they are communicated in.
Tomorrow I’ll be taking the day off. Wouldn’t do to have people writing reviews about me online. I don’t want to become a sightseeing attraction. For me it’s enough to be understood by those I want to be understood by. You understand?
