John Levine: Big Shoes to Fill

John Levine shares about the dress shoes he inherited from his father.

I come from a family of salesmen and women. All five of my siblings have been in sales at one time or another, and my daughter is now in the real estate business. My grandfather and my uncle had worked as manufacturers’ representatives selling clothing to department stores. And my father supported our family as a traveling salesman. 

I, however, didn’t get the sales gene. My idea of hell is trying to persuade someone to buy something. When my dad died 20 years ago, I inherited his collection of dress shoes. Dad always took pride in his wardrobe, and it wasn’t rare for him to spend $500 on a pair of shoes. 

It so happened that we wore the same size, so it was a foregone conclusion that I’d be the one to take over his shoe collection. I’d put on a pair on the rare occasion that I dressed up. But my attire as a teacher is mostly jeans, a button-down shirt and sneakers. As time went by, I knew that there was little point in my holding onto Dad’s shoes. 

And so, this year, I came to terms with the fact that the shoes had to go. I considered donating them, but I wanted to make sure whoever wore the shoes appreciated them. And so, I reluctantly posted them on social media. A man responded to my post and asked if he could stop by to look at the shoes. 

The next day, he was at my house, trying on the shoes, and after we shook hands on the deal, my wife offered him a cup of coffee. As we sat and talked, I told him about my father’s storied sales career and my selling family. I also told him that I was not that selling type. He took a sip of his coffee, and said: “Are you kidding? You just sold me four pairs of shoes.” And so, I did. I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree after all. With a Perspective, I’m John Levine.

John Levine teaches college writing and public speaking. He lives in Berkeley.