A Store Falling Apart  I'm at a sporting goods store in a mall, which I also know to be on the hill heading down to the old hog house at the Redding farm. I'm there to buy some leg weights so I can do the leg exercises while I'm in New South Wales to alleviate my knee pain. I test the electrical wiring of an item by plugging in several connections. A bulb lights up so I know the wiring is okay. My junior high classmate Ben Kator is there. He says his name and says something to be about getting the store employee who is in the attic. I don't recognize him at first, but then I remember him. The employee comes down from the attic. I wander up to the counter to pay for my leg weights. I have looked at several different sizes and weights. The employee rings it up to a total of $14.80. I start pulling out $24.80, so I can get a $10 bill back. The man grabs a handful of my coins and counts out 80 cents: three quarters and a nickel. He then slides the 80 cents towards him with his left hand and slides another bunch of coins towards him with his right hand, also taking the paper bills. I confront him on this, and call him a thief because I caught him. I say that a few coins aren't a big deal, but he is stealing. I ask him if there is a manager I can talk to. He says yes, and points to an office where I see a blue collar somewhat white trash stressed out greasy alcoholic-type person talking business on the phone. I wait for the manager, standing at the counter with the employee/thief. We talk about hard financial times: stealing while grocery shopping. The employee says that everyone steals. I tell him honestly that I don't. I'm waiting outside the manager's door. The employee enters the office and puts a dollar bill on the desk while the manager is still on the phone, as a bribe. It is the excess money in the till from stealing. He then comes and offers me a $40, $10, and $1 bill to keep quiet. I yell out, "Don't try to bribe me!" The manager is off the phone, and is standing right behind me. The employee lost his job at that moment, and leaves. I look at the store, which is on the hill as I look up towards the big oak tree and machine shed at the farm. The store is a mess: very unorganized, and things are falling apart. Three customers approach. The manager will need to run the store. I wait for the manager, to ask him if he needs good help: a good employee. Looking at the mess I know I could be more organized, efficient, and clean. I seem to be around Brimson, and am thinking of this job as a weekend job.