There were 21 shopping days until Christmas. On State Street, Marshall Field’s was offering crocheted suede jackets for 30 percent off. In Niles, Streamwood, and a dozen other Chicagoland locations, Value City was having a sale on tree skirts. On the corner of Roosevelt Road and Union Street, sock vendor Willie Barnes was hawking his holiday line.
The man squeezed the bundles.
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The driver pulled out a fin. Barnes snatched it and tossed two bundles through the window. Then he ran back to the sidewalk to avoid the undammed traffic. “He took six pairs,” Barnes reported. “You don’t always get what you want to get, but I’m hustling. It beats standing here not making any money.”
But December is their big money-making month. The drivers are shopping for Christmas gifts, and they’re generous with tips for men who sell socks on 20-degree afternoons. Barnes once got $50. Another salesman got a C-note.
“That’s my wife,” Barnes explained. “She’s yelling at me ’cause I’m not making any money.”
“He’s just burnin’ up concrete. He was ahead of me for a while, but I passed him, ’cause my wife was yelling at me for not making enough money. I like that. She drives me.”
Their bus was due in a few minutes. Barnes pushed a stocking cap across the table.
