“When I am making shoes I am playing, because it relaxes me and gives me a pleasure. Every line that I draw will be like that on the design of the finished shoe“, cobbler from Zenica, Salih Pasanbegovic, who convinced his life to the repairing and making shoes, starts his story.
Salih Pasanbegovic is known in Zenica by the nickname Pasan, which is also the name of his shoe store where he works for many years.
“I am doing this job since I was 15, but occasionally. I haven’t worked always, I have been working for three months in one cooperative, it was poor paid, and I went to the Steel Mill later, where I had a good job, salary, first workplace, but again after work I have been repairing and making shoes“ said 67-year-old Salih Pasanagic.
He emphasized that the charm of a shoemaker’s job is the pleasure of making and repairing shoes for a customer, but also in making of special shoes, like orthopedic shoes, dancing shoes and other, for which many customers are interested from Sarajevo, Mostar, Vitez, Konic, Brcko and ohter BH cities.
While he was sewing shoes at one of machines, our interlocutor said that customers are still bringing shoes on repairment, but also said that he often returns them considering that is better to buy the new ones.
In a workshop where are many machines that Pasanbegovic have bought, there are ones specially beloved to him. One of them is a sewing machine “Singer“ which is older than him, and he hopes that it will experience a lot of Pasan’s in future.
Our interlocutor said for the end of this conservation that he wants to do this job till the end of his life and that he hopes his son will continue the tradition.
(Source: klix.ba)