The Mock Dock

You guys - I just had the BEST SERVICE EXPERIENCE of my life.  Bear with me, for this is a long story but I need to tell you everything that happened because it’s SO GREAT.

Background:  I have a pair of black boots which are a few years old but in fantastic shape, EXCEPT for one of the heels - the little rubber sole thingy on the bottom of one of the heels came off a few weeks ago, and I’ve been too lazy to try and find a place to get them fixed, until today, when I realized I would need them to wear to a wedding tomorrow night.

ANYWAY, I searched on line for a place close to work, and called a place called The Shoe Fits.  This is the conversation I had with the mean store chick on the phone (and when you read it, make sure to assume that she has the bitchiest, snootiest, and most bored voice you can imagine, because she did):

Me:  Hi!  I was wondering if you could replace the rubber heel on one of my boots?  Do you do shoe repair there?

Mean Store Chick (MSC): Yeah.

Me:  Great!  So how long would something like that take?

MSC:  A few days.

Me:  Really?  Just for a piece of rubber?  Can I pay for express service or something?

MSC:  No.  It just depends on how many people are in here.

Me:  Ok how about this.  Could I bring them in at lunch today, and pick them up at lunch tomorrow?

MSC:  We could definitely possibly get them done by then.

Me:  Ok but see - there is a huge difference between “definitely” and “possibly” - and seeing as how I need them for tomorrow night, I would need to know, one way or another, if you could have them ready by then.

MSC:  Probably.  It just depends.

Me:  So you know what?  I’m just going to try someplace else.

MSC:  Whatever.  (hangs up)

Clearly, they really really really cared about my business.  Anyway, the next closest place was called Farmer’s Instant Shoe Repair, so I called them, and a guy answered who sounded like he looked like the sweetest most precious old black man you can picture.  This was our conversation:

Me:  Hi! I was wondering if you could replace the rubber heel on one of my boots?

Precious Store Man (PSM):  Why sure, darlin’!  Bring ‘em on in here whenever you want.

Me:  Really?  And how long would something like that take?

PSM:  Why, we can fix them right up for you while you wait, sugar!

Me:  I will be there in an hour.

PSM:  We’ll be waitin’ right here for you, baby!

And it just gets better.  So I go there, and it’s a SHACK.  A dumpy, dingy, dirty, decrepit old shack of a place.  It’s not as shack-y as the picture above, but you know what?  It wasn’t a whole lot bigger.  And I instantly loved it.  I walked in, and there was a woman there who looked exactly like Steve Martin’s mom in The Jerk (which is one of the best movies of all time, as I’m sure you know).  And she greets me with this enormous smile and says, “Well hello, baby!  What can I do for you?”  And I tell her that I had called earlier and she said, “Oooo yes, sugar - Brother John has been expecting you.”  And she takes my boots to some mysterious back room and shouts, “Brother John!  The boots the missy called about are here!” And she comes back out, and notices Suki in the parking lot, and says, “Oooooo honey - what sort of car is that?” And I BEAMED and told her I just got it, and she came out from behind the counter, took my hand, and said, “Well come on, now, girl - let’s go and have a looksee at it.” 

I am not making this up.  I totally wanted to be adopted by this woman.

So we go out to look at it, and she walks all around it, whistling and oooing and ahhhing over it, and notices Mini-Mock’s carseat, and says, “Oooo - you have a little one?”  And I said, “Yes!  He’s about to be 3!” and she insists on seeing all the pictures of him on my cell phone, and she fusses all over him, and then we go back in, and she ENVELOPS me in a huge warm embrace to congratulate me on getting a new car.  I’m serious.  Imagine being hugged by Steve Martin’s mom in The Jerk - and how cuddly and awesome that would feel.  That was my lunch hour.

So in like 5 minutes, Brother John had finished my boots and brought them out to me, and he was every bit as precious as I had imagined him to be. So I told both of them that I would write about them on my blog, and even though I don’t think either of them had any idea what that meant, they were effusive with their thanks.  I loved them SO MUCH.  And the best part about it was that they had a steady stream of customers, even during the short short time I was there, which is fabulous. Clearly, these people know how to treat their customers, unlike the bitchy The Shoe Fits people. 

If anyone ever needs shoe repair in Indiana, no matter where in Indiana you are, you should drive to Farmer’s Instant Shoe Repair in Indy.  The hug alone is worth it.