This is Meri. She is the first female shoe polisher that I have interviewed. She works at the Zócalo, in Mexico City and has only worked as a shoe polisher for 15 days. It is a good job for a woman she said, since most other jobs where women usually work, are very badly paid.
This is Jorge. He has worked as a shoe polisher in Mexico City for 20 years. I met him at the Zócalo in Mexico City in October 2009.
Tags: Bolero Shoe polisher Mexico City Ciudad de México Proyecto Zapato
Ernesto has worked as a shoepolisher in Puebla for 9 years. Before starting as a shoepolisher he worked in a textile factory for almost 13 years. Every once in a while he also works as a waiter at special events. Ernesto told me about a customer he once had who didn´t pay. He looked like a rich man he said, because he was very nicely dressed and everything. Ernesto polished his shoes but when it was time to pay the man told him that he had forgotte his money in the car but that he would go ...
Xavier has worked as a shoe polisher in Puebla for 10 years. The last two months he has noticed that people buy cheaper shoes than before, this probly due to the economic crisis he says. When the first repors of the swine flu came he also noticed less people coming to polish their shoes, which has effected his work alot he says. On a normal day he has about 8-10 customers.
Tags: Proyecto Zapato zapatos Bolero Puebla Mexico crisis Swine flue Influence porcina shoe polishers
This man has worked as a shoe polisher in Oaxaca for 14 years. I asked him about the shoes that people wear today and he told me that the fashion nowadays is to wear shoes that are slighly pointy and also pointing upwards. A bit like an arab shoe he told me. A lot of people also wear sneakers today but they rarely come downtown to polish there shoes. A typical Mexican shoe is a sandal by the way,. And a "normal! shoe? Take a look at what he is wearing himself.
Tags: Proyecto Zapato zapatos Oaxaca Mexico
