El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-11-19

THEY sit in a long row side by side
4 on wooden shelf in the dingy
shop OF the old shoe repairer.
Dainty gold cloth dancing slippers
with the dizziest OF French heels,
neighborinE chummily with a pair Of
square toed little boots worn to rag
gedness on the baseball field by
some future big Lacquer
A shoe repair shop offers some in
! teresung contrasts and as &c Is the
I daily scene OF the small economies
Of life, 70 Is apt to present both
I amusing and pitiful lncidents- One
] glance at its shelves impresses one
Z with the variety OF costumes who
{ patronize It. The gold slippers be-
I long TO petite young person who
! sometimes finds her grace as a dancer
and consequent popularity as q part
. ners a Worrlsome drain on her limited
I resources Those same slippers make
U frequent trips 20 the same little re-
pair shop and very frequently thev
I show Up again next morning after
! particularly strenuous evening when
I their paper tain soles have been
worn through again
@KomnE' 2 Problem.
The square little boots have been
brought in by a tired looking woman
who signs as she gives her order and
remarks that those shoes cost $3.50
t
as funny as the comic supplements
make it appear TO have 70 shoe three
OF four growing youngsters.
As in any other business which
deals directly with the public. there
are several types which have become
IS the prosperous business nan who
is apt 10 be fussy about trifles and
cant see why shoe repairing should
have increased in price Just because
everything else has. There is the
woman who always explains that she
"just wants 20 wear them around the
house" whenever she brings in pair
Of shoes to be repaired The fact
that the shoes are good ones and still
suitable for much wear makes no
difference. She won admit thst she Z
VIII ever wear q repaired shoe eZ- 1
cept 'just around the house.
An odd bit Of psychology Is notice e.
able concerning the persons, women /
particularly, who cannot see the pro- +
portionate relation between shoe I
prices, which have tripled and repair .
prices, which have not quite doubled I
In ether words, a SIS pair Of shoes I
is not worth a 80 repair bill, though
it used TO cost SI.25 70 make the same 4
repairs when the shoes cost only s.. /
For the same reason, as the prices Of I
shoes increased. the amount Of repair /
work ordered decreased
Another type is the one which IS
more than willing 70 pay for a new
pair Of hand turned soles but thinks
while the worker is about it. he can
build up the heels and sew on a few
buttons and mend that little rip with
out extra cost. Then there are those
who forget what they have ordered
done and insist that that isn't what
they wanted at all Also those who
don't listen when they are told what
the prices viii be and then think they
are being outrageously overcharged
when they call for the completed work
The fact that Il takes IS cents worth
Of dye and a half hour Of q workers
time to dye pair Of white kid shoes,
doesn't make them see that 81 isn't
really q profiteering price for such
work
a shoe repair shop IS a very good
place % observe human nature and
one readily agrees that there are
more things in heaven and earth
than have been dreamed OF in our
philosophers. Queer little foibles, IN
reasonable prejudices, hopes and joys
and sorroWs and humor-you can find
them all in the long rows Of shoes
sitting side BY side on the wooden
shelves.