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Penn Station Shoe Repair and Shoe Shine is a small shoeshining business in New York City.
宾夕法尼亚车站修鞋擦鞋店是纽约市的一家小型擦鞋店。
On a recent weekday, customers sat down at the shoeshine business and pulled out newspapers and phones to read while their shoes got shined.
在最近的一个工作日，顾客坐在擦鞋店里，在擦鞋的时候拿出报纸和手机阅读。
The shoeshiners cleaned the footwear and added an oily substance to protect the shoes' leather material.
擦鞋匠清洗鞋子，并添加一种油性物质来保护鞋子的皮革材料。
When finished, the customers paid eight dollars for the work.
擦完鞋后，顾客支付8美元。
A sign hanging at the little business reads, "We're not God, but we do save soles."
挂在这家小店的牌子上写着：“我们不是上帝，但我们确实拯救了鞋底。”
Shoeshining has a long history in the United States, dating back hundreds of years.
擦鞋在美国有着悠久的历史，可以追溯到数百年前。
But today, the tradition of getting a quick shine is weakening.
但在今天，快速擦鞋的传统正在减弱。
Shoeshine stands are disappearing in cities and towns across the country.
全国各地城镇的擦鞋摊正在消失。
The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the business decline.
新冠疫情加速了该行业业务量的下滑。
More people work from home than in the past.
与过去相比，更多的人居家办公。
And it has become popular to wear more casual work clothes.
而且穿更休闲的工作服变得流行起来。
All this means fewer customers for shoeshining businesses.
所有这些都意味着光顾擦鞋店的顾客减少了。
Nisan Khaimov owns the Penn Station stand.
尼桑·海莫夫是宾夕法尼亚车站摊位的老板。
He said his stand would shine 80 to 100 shoes each workday before the pandemic.
他说，在疫情爆发前，他的摊位每个工作日会擦80到100只鞋。
Now it is between 30 to 50 from Tuesday to Thursday and even fewer on Mondays and Fridays.
如今周二到周四能擦30到50只鞋，周一和周五更少。
The work-from-home model that is common across America is hurting his business.
在美国各地普遍存在的居家办公模式正在损害他的生意。
"Until people come back to work, the problems will not be solved," said Khaimov.
海莫夫说：“除非人们重返工作岗位，否则问题不会得到解决。”
Rory Heenan is a 38-year-old accountant from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
38岁的罗里·希南是宾夕法尼亚州费城的一名会计。
He said as a young boy he would take the train with his father on his way to work one Friday each month and watch him get a shoeshine.
他说，在他小时候，每个月的一个星期五，他都会和父亲一起坐火车去上班，看他去擦鞋。
"I would just sit here as a little guy, you know, observing," he said.
他说：“我当时是作为一个小家伙坐在这里观察”。
"And here I am, you know, 30 years later, doing the same thing. So, it's certainly something that's passed down over time."
“而现在，30年后的今天，我在做同样的事情。所以，这肯定是随着时间的推移而流传下来的东西。”
Across town, Jairo Cardenas is also feeling the losses.
在城市的另一边，杰罗·卡德纳斯也感受到了损失。
Business at Alpha Shoes Repair Corporation is down 75 percent from before the pandemic.
阿尔法修鞋店的业务量比疫情前下降了75%。
His business used to shine 60 or 70 shoes a day.
他的店过去每天擦六七十只鞋。
Now, on a good day, he shines shoes for 10 to 15 customers.
如今，在天气好的时候，会有10到15名顾客来店里擦鞋。
Shoe repairs generally bring in more money than shines.
修鞋通常比擦鞋赚的钱更多。
At David Mesquita's Leather Spa, which operates five shoe repair and shine businesses in the area, the repairs are the major part of its sales.
戴维·梅斯基塔的皮革护理公司在该地区经营着五家修鞋和擦鞋店，修鞋是其销售额的主要部分。
But shoeshines are still an important offering to bring people in as most shoe repair businesses do not have the service.
但擦鞋仍然是吸引人们进店的一项重要服务，因为大多数修鞋店没有擦鞋这项服务。
Before the pandemic, Leather Spa had four shoeshine chairs at its business inside New York's Grand Central Terminal.
在疫情爆发之前，该皮革护理公司在其位于纽约中央火车站的店内设有四把擦鞋椅。
It employed six shoeshiners.
它雇佣了六名擦鞋匠。
Together, they would complete about 120 shines a day.
他们一天总共可以擦大约120只鞋。
Now, there are three shoeshiners who do 40 or 50 shines a day at most.
如今，三个擦鞋匠一天最多擦四五十只鞋。
But Mesquita is seeing people slowly coming back.
但梅斯基塔发现人们慢慢地回来了。
His December 2022 shoeshine numbers were up 52 percent compared with December 2021.
与2021年12月相比，他在2022年12月的擦鞋数量增加了52%。
"Traffic is slowly coming back in, we're seeing the commuters come in and everything, but we're still not back 100 percent of what we were," Mesquita said.
梅斯基塔说：“交通正在慢慢恢复，我们看到通勤者进车站，但我们仍然没有100%恢复。”
He added that shoeshining is not something that will ever fully go away.
他补充说，擦鞋业务永远不会完全消失。
"People like to treat themselves," he said, "whether it's once a week or twice a week or, you know, once every two weeks. It's just nice."
“人们喜欢犒劳自己，”他说，“不管是一周一次，还是一周两次，或者，每两周一次。都很好。”
I'm Caty Weaver.
凯蒂·韦弗为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
