8.26.2004

Back to the daily grind...

So I'm loving this whole "working until 5:30" thing from Mondays to Wednesdays. It makes it so I can actually do stuff in the evenings.

Granted, I'd leave in a heartbeat if the Sun came a-callin' (which they haven't done yet...).

I've noticed that there are a LOT of good looking ladies who work in the area. I tend to say that there's at least one girl I could definitely go for every hour in this mall.

Unfortunately, they're STILL outnumbered by crazy people who come into the store.

This mall has the most disparate customer base I've seen, and I've been working here for 4 years.

Back at Kingsway, which is, honestly, the biggest low-rent mall in Edmonton, I'd usually deal with people who didn't have much money or were closeby to the centre of the city.

Bonnie Doon? College students and seniors.

WEM. Travellers and mallrats.

Here at City Centre? There's obviously the downtown core clientele, the businessmen and the like, as well as even lower-rent people than KGM, the cute girls, the crazies, and many more.

Still, I've been here less than a week...

I was shocked to see Crazy Larry come in today.

Crazy Larry's a guy I first met at Bonnie Doon. He'd come by every night, in his crazy hairdo, unbuttoned shirt, and sunglasses. He'd go into the stalls, pick out one small fuse or light or component, always under five bucks, and pay for it.

He'd do this every night 10 minutes before the store closed. Also, he'd shoplift something, usually, but we were never able to really catch him. We all knew he did this, but we'd never be able to get him in the act (although we really, really tried).

After us, he'd go to Safeway, where MFJ would usually have to deal with him.

(One time, after I closed up shop, I was standing in line with some groceries. I asked Jen, "So Crazy Larry comes in here all the time, too?" Jen was confused. "Who's Crazy Larry?" When I pointed him out, she laughed, "Oh, you mean Bob Dylan? Crazy Larry's a much better name.")

It became my obsession to close the store before he'd come in, because if he was around, the store would be open fifteen minutes later than it should.

One time, Bentley Girl saw me rush around, closing all the doors five minutes early. I then ran in the back room and turned off the lights. Crazy Larry came around, and knocked on the door for a good ten minutes, while I was hiding in the back, doing the daily reports. Bentley Girl laughed her cute little ass off that night.

One day, he just stopped coming by. I'd still see him on Whyte Ave., biking past the 7-11 or in my apartment's alley. But he didn't come back into the store.

It was really strange to see him after a year, with a new haircut and outfit, but still doing the same old stuff. AND he said "Thank you" to me.

* * *

I was at the bus stop today, waiting for the #6 to take me back to Strathcona.

When the bus arrived, I tried to get off my seat, but a clip from my backpack decided to fall through one of the bench's holes and get caught.

I finally got it after about two minutes, and tried to run after the bus pulling away.

Alas, I missed it. Curse you, backpack!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

crazy was I?

Anonymous said...

Crazy Larry is one of Edmonton's Original Gangsters And Native Brotherhood members. He was a shop lifer by habit not need, I knew him well. Heard he is livin it Large in Ontario. Shout out to OG-CL from OG Kadafee