Two Spots

I was walking down Fuzhou Street today, weaving my way down the crowded sidewalk, when a shoeshine-walla approached me. "Only 5 yuan" he said as he pointed to my shoes. Sure, I needed a shine but I didn't want one right now, right here. "Buyao, xiexie" (I don't want one, thank you) I said. But he was particularly insistant and kept on pestering me. As we were walking and without me seeing him do it he squirted shoe polish on my shoe and then started smiling and pointing at my shoe. It was the old "mom I licked the ice cream bar now you gotta buy it" ploy. But I wasn't about to reward this guy so I just kept on walking as he continued to point at my feet to alert me to the mound of shoe cream on my shoe. As soon as he gave up I wiped the stuff off my shoe and continued on.

A shoeshine tout tried this same squirt-the-shoe technique on me in Mexico City one time but the stuff he used ruined my shoe. This time the only damage is a dollar coin-sized shiny spot on one shoe - now I have to polish all of the shoe to match it.

I feel good today because I found my spot (not the one on my shoe). In every city I'm familiar with I have a spot - my favorite place to just be. It's like finding a comfortable glove or an old friend. You just want to be there. In Peavine, it's the pedestrian bridge over the river. In DC it's the Pavilion Cafe in the Sculpture Garden. In Shanghai, it's the rooftop bar at the Captain Hostel. The outdoor benches and seats are worn and peeling ( a good thing) and the view of the Bund and the river are perfect. The picture of the tugboat celebration below was taken from there. I had a Coke and french fries and just sat and watched the river. My spot in Shanghai.