The profession of "healing" old shoes and sandals.

Báo Thừa Thiên Huế•01/08/2023

I'm not from Hue , so I'm not very familiar with the area. After asking around, a friend recommended a place on Truong Dinh Street in Hue City where I could get my worn-out shoes repaired. It would be a shame to throw them away, as they weren't too bad. When I arrived, the sight that greeted me was of hardworking men tending to their tattered and worn shoes.

Seeing an elderly man busy rearranging his tools while he had no customers, I stopped by. After chatting, he introduced himself as H., (61 years old) from Huong So ward, Hue City. He said that his family was poor when he was young and he didn't have the opportunity to go to school, and his parents passed away early. One time, while visiting an acquaintance, he saw an old man repairing shoes and sandals, so he became curious and tried it himself. The old man said, "You have a talent for needlework and sewing," so he decided to learn the trade. After a few years of learning, with his meticulousness, carefulness, and a bit of aptitude, he started working as a tailor early.

It's hard to say whether this job makes you rich, but according to Mr. H., you'll never have to worry about not having work. As long as people wear shoes, there's no need to worry about unemployment. Thanks to this job, Mr. H. has a stable income that has supported his three children through university.

While we were chatting animatedly, a young woman approached from behind, asking for help fixing the strap of her clogs. Even at his age, his hands were still nimble, and his eyesight sharp. Carefully inserting each nail and gently hammering the strap to secure it to the clog, he meticulously trimmed the excess strap with scissors. Once finished, he handed the clogs to the woman to try them on and see if they fit. For him, each time he finished fixing a pair of shoes and saw a customer happy, his day was filled with joy. If he wasn't satisfied, he would make adjustments until they were perfect. Sometimes, he would even take the whole pair of shoes apart and spend hours sewing them back together because of a single misaligned stitch...

What seemed like a tedious job has been Mr. H.'s joy for decades. He recounted, "If I don't come here every day to tinker with, examine, and 'repair' old shoes, I feel very uncomfortable. Now, if I happen to be sick and take a few days off, I miss my customers, my familiar spot, and the smell of glue that has been a part of my life for more than half my life."

Not far from Mr. H.'s shop is Mr. L.'s shoe and sandal repair shop, one of the craftsmen who has stuck with this trade for many years here. Mr. L. confided: "Shoe and sandal repair is like an art form. It may seem simple, but it requires meticulousness and carefulness. You have to be in a cheerful and relaxed mood to do it; otherwise... after repairing it, I don't even want to look at it myself, let alone the customer."

According to Mr. L., this job doesn't bring in a high income, but it's stable, and over the years, the profession has become ingrained in his blood and is hard to give up. However, not everyone can do it; it requires the dexterity and strength of a man's hands. You have to see the process firsthand to appreciate the skill and meticulousness of this "healing" craftsman.

"Through daily interaction with customers, especially tourists , we've realized that every resident of Hue is a tourism ambassador for the ancient capital, and our behavior and communication with guests must be appropriate for a tourist city," Mr. L. said.

There's no need for fancy signs here; just a few plastic chairs and some simple tools... a small corner becomes a shoe repair shop serving everyone. From factory workers and elderly people to motorbike taxi drivers and anyone else, you can all stop by to get your shoes repaired.

Dedicated shoemakers like Mr. H. and Mr. L. strive to repair seemingly unusable old shoes, making them look brand new again. Because of this, many customers travel all the way to Truong Dinh Street in Hue City to have their shoes repaired, even from afar.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of city life, we cannot forget the image of those small street corners where craftsmen sit diligently "reviving" old shoes and sandals.

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