Work Boots

A few students were asking about my “Timberland” shoes, so here is the story.

They are not Timberlands. They are knockoffs, I guess, that look like Timberlands that I purchased for $10 at Target 8 years ago. And they are still in good shape.

I didn’t buy them because they looked like Timberlands. I bought them because they were cheap work boots that I needed when I was flat broke and doing manual labor while on winter break from Lincoln University. I wanted some quick cash to buy Christmas presents, and I heard about a company called Labor Ready, which is a temp agency for manual labor jobs.

I drove to the agency and stood outside at 5:45 a.m. on a cold, December morning. There were already 6 or so guys in line. When they opened at 6 a.m., we filed in and put our name on the list. Having my own car was an advantage as I was quickly chosen to go to a job 30 minutes away.

For the next two weeks, I helped install carpet at a movie theater. And by help install, I mean I carried stuff. I tore out old carpet and carried it to dumpsters; I helped move long roles of carpet off trucks and cut roles of carpet into place for installation.

By the end of the two weeks, I had some money to buy presents and renewed determination to make my living with my mind, rather than my body.

And I still have the work boots.