A little polish can give a lift to their stride
First the shoe gets a quick wash with a brush and soap, to remove the grime from Houston’s streets.
And with that, Gregory Coleman Sr., who has been shining shoes at the Offshore Technology Conference for 18 years, if his math is right, is happy to get to work.
“It’s been pretty good, but maybe 30 percent less (customers) than last year,” says Coleman, 56.
“When they sit down, we be talking about the oil prices and how low it is. They let me know what’s going on and about the layoffs. Some of them say it’s going to take 10 years for the business to come back.”
Coleman makes the trip down from Glenwood each morning.
At OTC, he says he sees fewer work boots and the
casual slip-ons of middle managers and more highpriced oxfords favored by executives.
“All of the big shots are here, and none of the rookies,” he says as he begins to apply the polish with a rag.
On a normal day Coleman would be driving around Houston doing freelance shines and repairs for car dealerships and office buildings.
But he says a good shoeshine man can pull in $1,100 a day at OTC— a portion of which he must hand over to the owner of the stand.
Coleman has worked the conference so long that he has regular clients who come to him specifically. But oilmen tend not to be as diligent about shoe care as he would like.
“They might not have gotten a shine since the last time they saw me a year ago. It puts more work on me,” he says.
“They’re all beat up and scarred.”
As Coleman works the buff rag back and forth across the shoe, bringing out the gleam of leather he seeks, he begins to sing a song: “I shine in the light. I shine in the dark. There ain’t no shine like mine. If I ain’t going to shine, I ain’t going to eat.”
In his mind the shoeshine trade is dying — not enough young people are willing to pick up the rag and polish, he says.
His clients at OTC this year might be feeling similarly downtrodden, as the price of their product hangs at less than half of what it was two years ago.
But Coleman, as he snaps the rag across the shoe one last time, has soothing words.
“Take the bitter with the sweet,” he says.
“And put it away when you’re on top.”
“Take the bitter with the sweet. And put it away when you’re on top. ” Gregory Coleman Sr., OTC shoeshine man