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I just fell for the shoe-shining one in Chicago. I was street parking in a side street off of Michigan Ave. While standing in front of the pay device getting ready to pay for my parking, 2 or 3 African-American men showed up and one asked me if I wanted a shoe-shine. I said, no, but then he came closer, bent over and said something like, "Let me show you something, just don't kick me!" Then he squeezed some liquid detergent-looking goo on both of my sneakers, got a cloth out and started shining. I thought it was too late to do anything after that point, so I just let him go on. A half-assed job in less than 2 minutes and then he asked for $8 per shoe + tip. One of his friends was at a distance and none of them looked really intimidating, but still I didn't wanna risk one of them taking out a knife and stabbing me or something, so I gave him $10. He was protesting and said something about how he has to pay for his kid's school, but I said I didn't ask for the service and he walked away peacefully. They were still hanging around my car when I was leaving though, so I hope it is still there and not broken in when I go back there in a little bit...
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