I Bet I Know Where You Got Them Shoes

I have precious few positive memories of my father. This is one and it’s probably the reason I still love this kind of street theater.

My dad was not a big traveler. Neither was he known for his sense of humor. So it was a huge surprise to both my mother and me when he decided that we were going on a vacation to the World’s Fair when New Orleans hosted it many, many moons ago. I had only been out of the rural Ohio / Pennsylvania border area where I grew up (complete with a cornfield across the street, I kid you not) once for a trip to the brand new Disney World in Florida and a couple of drives to get my sister from college in an even more rural part of Ohio. We toured the fair and enjoyed it immensely. We also roamed the city. During one of our walks down Bourbon Street, a young black man stopped my dad and said, “I bet you a dollar I know where you got them shoes.”

My father frowned a little, and being a gambler, pulled a dollar bill out of his wallet. “Ok, where did I get these shoes.”

The kid pointed at his feet and said, “You got them shoes on Bourbon Street.”

Dad shook his head. “No I didn’t. I bought them at Reyer’s in Sharon, Pennsylvania.”

The kid shook his head lazily and announced with a showman’s drawl, “Right now you got them shoes on your feet on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.”

Mom and I braced for Dad’s reaction, but instead of blowing up he laughed. He laughed so hard he doubled over. When he recovered himself, he clapped the kid on the back, handed him his dollar and walked away still chuckling, “I do have these shoes on Bourbon Street."

I do wonder what happened to that kid in life and in the aftermath of Katrina because the memory he gave me was so much more valuable than the dollar he earned that day.