Interval

An elderly gent is poking in his closet, looking for a beloved pair of brown oxfords. He pokes and he pokes and then it dawns on him. He took them to a shoemaker to resole twenty-nine years go but forgot to pick them up. But he remembers the name of the shoemaker and, lo, there's the address in the book. So he drives over, steps in, and, yes, he even remembers the shoemaker, though he's older now.

"Look," the guy says, "you're going to think I'm crazy, but after twenty-nine years I just remembered, I brought a pair of brown oxfords here twenty-nine years ago to be resoled, and then forgot to pick them up. I don't suppose there's any chance that you have them?"

Without batting an eye the shoemaker goes to the back room, and he's gone a long time. But then he comes back and tells the guy, "Sure, I still got 'em." The guy's so tickled he can hardly contain himself. What glorious karma, for them to be still there. "Great," he says, "can I have them?" The shoemaker thinks for a moment. then, "Sure you can have 'em. They'll be ready Thursday afternoon."