May 30, 2006

• More felonies at Felony Flats!!!

   

  Yesterday, I was setting up and went to schmooze with a neighbor–I
  usually set up and strike in installments, to minimize the stress and
  physical trauma.  Anyway, we was crowing about this great deal he
  made and showed me this ivory scrimshaw belt buckle.  “That’s
  funny,” sez I–”I have one that looks just like that,” and went back to
  setting up.  Then I noticed that one of my belt buckles was
  missing.  I went back over to the guy, asked to look at the
  buckle closely–yep, it was mine–it still hade my price tag, in my
  handwriting, on it.  I pointed this out and took the buckle back.

  He was not happy, claimed that we should somehow split the loss,
  saying about how he gave the guy so much for it.  Suddenly his
  “great deal” didn’t seem so great any more.  I told him I didn’t
  want to argue, but if he liked, I could call the troopers and let them
  sort it out.  I  pointed out that his options were
  limited,  since he had committed a felony by accepting stolen
  goods, and added that if you are going to be in business, you have
  to  expect to be ripped off from time to time.  He stalked
  off, muttering angrily.

  I gave the matter some thought, decided he did sort of have a point
  in an ethical if not a legal sense–after all, if you take in a
  counterfeit bill and try to deposit it in a bank, the bank just takes the
  bill and gives you nothing back.  So I boxed up a few of my $20
  knives, asked him if it would suit him to just pick out two of them,
  let me keep my buckle, and call it square.  He agreed, and
  peace  and harmony reigned once more.

  It being Memorial Day, there was a lot of traffic but not much
  business.  At one point, a woman who was renting a near-by storage
  units came up behind me, asked about the kittens I had to give
  away.  I had my back turned for a few seconds, and in that time,
  one of my $20 skinning knives vanished.  They left the box and
  sheath, just took the knife.

  Then when I was striking for the day, I discovered another $20 knife
  missing–the empty box was still on the table, and at least one of my
  $10 knives was gone.  This was my biggest loss since a gun show a
  few years ago, when seven knives valued at a total of almost $200 went
  missing.

  Still, I showed a profit for the day, with gross sales of
  $102.  Plus, I got a really nice winter coat for $5, and three
  shirts–a like-new Pendleton wool jobbie with suede elbow patches, a
  custom-tailored dress shirt, and a whimsical long-sleeve tee–and only
  paid $2 for all.  I estimate that they sold for $100 or more new.

  And I got rid of three kittens, only one of which (Yoda, a little
  gray and white guy) I will miss.  I had hoped to get rid of
  Indiana Jones, but he is still there.

  (BTW–”striking” is carney lingo, it means shutting up shop for the nonce.)

  • 4:11 pm
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