At Bourda Market once, early nineties, I tried on a pair of nice shoes. Turned out that merchant had them in green, in my size, 45. In black he had them in 46. I said “what am i supposed to do with a green shoe? And I am not gonna buy the black 46; that’s too big.”
So I started to walk away.
But the man chased me down within a minute: mistah mistah, I found a black one in your size.
I checked and inside the insole said 45. I tried them on right there on the roadside and they looked good on me. Things do 😉 .
I paid him and went back home a few days later. A few weeks later as I am cleaning my new shoes, the insole comes off.
There was another insole beneath it. 46! The guy just placed the insole from the green 45 shoe on top of the 46 black and it fit me perfectly.
A crook, but I had to admire his ingenuity and quick thinking.
And make no mistake, I wore my shoes that he had made to fit well, until they died!
