indian barber shop
This is a roadside barber shop in India. In retrospect, I should have got a haircut at a place like this -- I'm sure I would have got a good cut at a great price and a little story to tell. I did have a pair of pants hemmed by a friendly guy with a roadside sewing machine (yes, an old Singer with a foot treadle) and a shoe-shine from a guy on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, in Victoria, Canada, a woman out of work for months tries to make some money by shining shoes for donations and the city bylaw officers shut her down because she hasn't got the appropriate license (and there is no license she can get). Having regulations for clean water and clean food makes life better here, but at a certain point regulations make life harder without providing a benefit. Why is it that there are homeless people begging all over the downtown, as well as young people soliciting money for charities, but a woman can't shine shoes for donations? My shoes are a bit scuffed on the toe and I'd pay to have them shined.