I just finished talking with dear h & was preparing to go to sleep. Having remembered that I was wearing khaki's to work tomorrow I glanced at my brown dress shoes & realized they needed to be shined. I walked over to my closet & retrieved my old dirty sock(shoe polish on it), the old dirty t-shirt(ditto), the long brush & the short brush as well as the brown polish.

Now I was never taught by anyone what the proper way to shine a shoe, but having watched my father do it many times over on a Sunday morning when I was a small child, I had gleaned enough information off of the experience to get the gist of it. I also, through life experiences, have seen many other instances where people have shined shoes. I am, by no means an expert, but do think I do a reasonably good job.

Somehow shining one's shoes is an immensely satisfying experience. Out of all of the chores in life, including laundry, dishes, &c &c, I find this chore to be one that I do not mind doing. It doesn't take long and its actually a bit of fun for me. Being a tech geek my entire life, I've only recently (in the past 6 or 7 years) come to appreciate the creative side of myself. Whether its Photoshopping a picture, designing a web page layout, or putting a good polish on my shoes - I like being creative/productive. Furthermore, shining one's own shoes says something, I think, about the person. I think it shows that no small menial task is beneath themselves - no matter what their station in life. It just seems honest, if you can understand that.

Never trust a man who doesn't shine his own shoes.