Color Changing Shoes

If you travel much at all, you know that the majority of the time is spent waiting. Airports have come up with some innovative ways to help travelers pass the time. You can watch the over-priced automatic trash compacting garbage cans. You can buy a $6 cup of coffee. You can even buy a below average meal at an above average price. However one of my favorite activities is the time-honored shoe shine stand. If I never traveled, my shoes would never be polished. Most major airports have several locations where you can get your shoes shined. I typically get mine done adjacent to gate B-17 in the Atlanta airport. AT $5 it’s still one of the best deals around. Nothing makes a good first impression like freshly shined shoes, especially for people who look at your feet.

On this trip I had over an hour after getting to my gate, B-22. Hey, I’m not too far from the shoe shine man. Since I’m on the “B” concourse, I made a “B” line to the shoe shine man. When it’s my turn, I climb up into the chair. The gentleman who will be my shiner today is one I’ve never seen there before. He gets me situated with my feet on the pedestals and starts applying the polish. I’m enjoying my $12 smoothie and not paying much attention to what’s going on. Half way through the polish applying process he asks, “Are these shoes black?” What? My first thought was how did a color blind guy get a job at the shoe shine stand. I said, ‘They are NOW!” with a chuckle. He laughed and continued to polish, never looking up. He finished the job, I paid him and headed back to B-22 to catch my flight. I couldn’t help but wonder though as I walked away, how many people had experienced the mysterious phenomenon of the “color changing shoes.”