My First Day at The Pawn Shop

Today was my first day working at a pawn shop and I must say that my expectations for greatness were far exceeded. I was assigned to help organize the actual shop displays and organize the back room, and even though I was informed that this wasn't what a normal work day will be like, it provided my naive mind with a better understanding of the inner workings of a pawn shop.

One of the first tasks I was given was to go to the enormous backroom (which resembled a small warehouse for pawned electronics and other inventory) and remove hundreds of VHS tapes from the towering shelves in order to count and package them in brown paper bags to rid the store room of their grainy film and inferior sound quality. And even though the items were unwanted and outdated, some of the movies were quite intriguing. Some of my favorite titles included Time Without Britney Spears (what that means I will unfortunately never know), American Pimp, My Little Pony, and the complete series of Highlander.

Another task I was given was helping organize a portion of our inventory. I sorted through hundreds of items ranging from novelty sunglasses (including glittered pot leaves, bling that was capable of blinding someone if the sun glinted off it just right, and hologram dollar signs across the dark lenses, among many other hideous travesties that were desperately trying to be stylish), an array of cheap tools (C-clamps, screwdriver kits, flimsy plastic tool boxes, and a band saw--just to name a few), and household items (coffee makers, fans, microwaves, clocks, mirrors, etc). The array of the items is much more expansive and random than I could ever hope to explain and there were not five minutes that went by that I did not see something that blew my mind--Chinese mediation balls, a banjo, a long row of bicycles, two horse saddles, some strange rusted garden instrument that looked like a murder weapon, a golden wicker basket filled with pastel Easter grass.

And to top it all off, as I was leaving for the day, a customer came to the counter with an 8-inch knife complete with a metal sheath. The sheath and handle were decorated with mystical patterns, probably with Dungeon & Dragon fans in mind as the target audience, and was in very good condition. But when the customer was offered five dollars, he took the knife back and very animatedly revealed how he procured the knife. "I found this just laying on the side of the street! Can you believe that? On the side of the street! A kid could have picked that up! Just on the side of the street! Can you believe that?" He repeated this over and over again as he walked backwards out of the store, loudly repeating his shocking news to anyone who made eye contact and then again to those who he'd already informed.

Yes, this was a magnificent first day at what I believe is going to be a very entertaining job.