Word: felix
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...Felix tears the soles off shoes, pastes barge glue onto leather, hammers the new sole on and pares away the excess. His head angles forward after a lifetime of looking downward. Without interrupting the rhythm of his work he says, "So what questions do you have?" I ask him to talk about his work...
...Felix arrives at work at seven-thirty in themorning and works without lunch until eight ornine at night. Fifteen-hour days are not uncommon.After closing he will relax by working two orthree hours doing "reps," repairs on purses andbags and zippers, work on the sewing machine thatdoes not get finished during...
...Felix was trained to build shoes from scratch.Now he does repairs only, but sometimes that meansrebuilding a shoe from very little. On hisworkbench there is a an English calf-high bootwith the soles ripped off, the welt in tatters,only the upper remains. "This job will take morework, I don't make no money doing this, but I knowthis customer long time, sometimes you got to putin special effort, and then he tells other people,other people, other people, and I don't need toadvertise...
More often, Felix is only asked to rebuild aheel or repair a sole. Customers often bring in anew pair of shoes so he can attach a rubber bottommade by Pirelli, the Italian tire company. Thisrubber bottom protects the leather sole from wear.Most jobs cost 10 or 20 dollars, but he works onshoes that cost $200 or $300, or more. Shoes asdressy as a Brooks Brothers suit but ascomfortable as a well-worn flight jacket. "My timeis your time. I'm gonna be taking the time toexplain to the customer what it is that I'm doing.That...
...Felix believes in hard work. "As long as youcan move your hands, you are gonna have bread onthe table. In this business, you never starve, butyou don't make so much that you can retire." He isnot listed in the Yellow Pages because he alreadyhas all the work he can handle. In good times, 10or 12 pairs of day. Despite the recession, hecan't find good help. "The kids these day, thepeople, nobody is willing to work for $5, $6 anhour, they would rather get welfare than work...