The Engineer Boot Affair

I was thirteen and my friend Ronnie, who I

always thought was cool, wore engineer boots

when he wasn’t in school.

Oh, I suppose he could have worn them if they

didn’t have horseshoe taps on the heels. They

made a cool snappy sound every step he took.

And on concrete they even shot sparks out the

back. That’s why the nuns at school wouldn’t

allow them.

Anyway, I thought they were cool, and so was

Ronnie in his t-shirt and jeans with a Lucky Strike

hanging from his lips while he talked. Only Rebels

without a Cause like James Dean could be cool

like that.

I smoked too, only with Ronnie, though. Ronnie’s

folks even let him wear his hair long, all slicked back

with Brylcreem into a duck tail. My mom and dad

would have none of that. And if I wanted engineer

boots, they told me, I’d have to buy them

with my own money.

I sure couldn’t afford the fifteen or twenty

dollars they cost at the time, and I believe

the horseshoe taps were and additional

seventy-five cents a pair.

Well, winter came and it was a particularly

cold and snowy one that year. We had a big

snow storm in St. Louis and school was called

off for two days in a row.

I made the best of the adverse conditions,

and shoveled snow in my neighborhood. I

worked my ass off and made just enough

to buy those cool engineer boots I always

wanted.

I went to the local dry goods store and tried

on a pair. They were really slick, but didn’t feel

quite right. Having never worn boots before,

I figured I would eventually get use to them.

I had the shop owner nail on the coveted

horseshoe taps to the heels and off I went,

proud and pleased as could be.

Well, I wore those boots every day when I got

home from school, and the heels made clacking

noises and sparks okay, but I just couldn’t seem

to break them in. They were still stiff and my feet

slogged around in them. When I wore two pair

of socks my feet were too cramped and very un-

comfortable.

Ronnie never complained about his boots that

way. I suppose some kids are just made to wear

engineer boots and slicked-back hair; some kids

are born to be cool like James Dean and Ronnie.

Not me, though, I couldn’t even hold a cigarette

in my lips while talking without getting a bunch

of smoke in my eyes. Those boots remained in

my closet until I went into the Army at seven-

teen. I got GI boots then, and they fit me just

fine. Even without a duck tail, cool!

                               -30-

Chris Hanch 7-26-2020