"Meethster! Meethster!"

This entry won't have much to do with prison life but I was reminded of this when a guy told me that the captain is looking for a shoe shiner to clean the guards' boots. The story goes back to my time in Ethiopia.
One day I was coming out of the Hilton Hotel after a swim with some friends in the hot spring-fed pool. An Ethiopian kid, about ten years old, came up to me with a brush, rag, and shoe shine saying "Meethster, meethster! Need clean? Need clean?"

I told him no and kept walking, but he followed me for another twenty yards before I stopped. He got a big smile on his face when I lifted my foot.

After he cleaned my still stained shoes, I said thank you in Amharic and gave him five birr, the Ethiopian currency (about 50 cents.) Still smiling, the kid followed me right by my side to the taxi stop. Just a happy little anecdote from the past...