Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Usage examples of "shoe-shine".
You delegate the job of diverting everyone's attention from the victim-make it look like you're coming at them from one way but it turns out that it's just a delivery boy or shoe-shine boy or something, and meanwhile you've come up behind the victim.
Black and white people came from nearby bars, from the dim stinking doorways, from the flea-bag hotels, from the cafeterias, the greasy spoons, from the shoe-shine parlors, the poolrooms -- pansies and prostitutes, ordinary bar drinkers and strangers in the area who had stopped for a bit to eat, Johns and squares looking for excitement, muggers and sneak thieves looking for victims.