Gary's Boring Blog

You know what they say about men with big feet...

...yep, they should never live in Japan, because they won't be able to find shoes to fit!

A while back, a workman came to fix something at our house while I was at work. One of my pairs of shoes was in the entranceway (genkan). The old fella could not get over the size of them. "What are these, canoes?", he asked Megumi. "Wow, is your husband a giant or something?" was another of his exclamations. "No, he's just British", was her reply.

Last week, the soles of my favourite, most comfortable work shoes split. This was not good news, as I know the next time I will go shopping in the UK will be in August. I told Megumi that I would have to venture to one of those "Big and Tall" shops in Tokyo to find new shoes (and pay around twice the price I would pay at home). "Mmm, we don't have much money at the moment, do we?" she asked. "No, not really, but I can't go to work in my football boots, can I?" was my lightning-fast reply.

Being the kind and lovely lady she is, Megumi decided to try and take my shoes to a shoe repairer, to see if they could fit new soles to my work canoes. I was not there, but the conversation went something like this:

MG: The soles have split on these shoes. Could you fix them, or replace the soles?

SB: Blimey, look at the size of those. Hey, Takeshi, look at these. We should tie a rope to them and send them to Niigata to help the poor folks up there transport food over the snow.
Oh, sorry, you said you wanted them repaired...? Nope, sorry, TOOOO big. Try taking them back the the shop you bought them at.

MG:Yes, we would if we could. But they were bought in the UK. Is there no way you can fix them?

SB: Mmm, the UK, huh? Might cost more to fly there and fix them than it would to buy a new pair, eh? Well, we could replace the soles, I suppose, but because they are so bloody big, it wouldn't be cheap. Just over 10,000yen ($100) to you, madam.

MG: I think that's about what they cost to buy new. It seems a little pricey. Is there no other cheaper way to just repair the split parts of the soles?

SB: Well, since you're so insistent, I suppose we could just take out the split part of the soles, and attach new sections to the original sole. Yep, OK, we can do that for 2,800yen, just for you (and your gargantuan husband).

MG=Megumi
SB=Shop Bloke

So, I have newly patched-up shoes, and they stick really well to the carpet at work. I have almost tripped headlong into people about 3 times, although I'm sure I'll get used to this new stickiness...

Posted by Gary at January 24, 2005 02:46 PM