As telling it may be

a narrative of sorts....

without preface;

In casual conversation, people assume to understand what i do,actually, to be more accurate, what it entails.
My interactions throughout any given day, are basically as follows..and not without exception, of course.

40% - the typical eclectic,austin-musician type;
1.talented frontman with charisma , looks, charm, and a spending problem.. either on gear, or drink. he's cool, girls flock to him, and he is chatty, friendly and always a welcome customer at my shop.
2. the gear-nerd, loves guitars or amps , but more importantly loves the details, or inner workings of these items. this person is also , always welcome... albeit usually too talkative , too opinionated, and far too ocd to want to spend excessive amounts of time with
3. the gigging musician, full time performer , or maybe the working man, weekend warrior type. these are the ones that love instruments , strictly for the music they make. some spend a tuesday playing an open mic , and flip burgers wednesday morning . some spend 5 days in the office at the law firm, waiting for saturday , when they rock out , playing covers at the local weekend party spot, (in austin, could be the maggie mays on 6th, the Oasis on the lake, or 311 throwing old school blues)

They make up a large part of my day, my working life in general.

10% The fallen on hard times type.

these are the single moms, who need cash for their sons medication;

the dad, whose oldest is turning 13, and he needs money to buy a gift, or take the family to gatti-land for a rare, and costly celebratory night ..

the stranded worker, or motorist who is genuinely out of gas, but headed home or to a job where they will have access to funds, but need help getting to that destination.
these are the ones that can sometimes brighten, not just your day , but your essence. when they leave, in your heart , you know that you truly helped someone in need. they are the important part of this story... as you will discover shortly.

50% The empty shell.

these come in more varieties than i can even share , but include, all forms of criminals, and heartless beings.

these are the gutter-punks, who have chosen to be homeless and live on the street, while still having a cell phone, and credit card that mom and dad take care of.
they steal from tourists, and businesses and attempt to flip their loot , with me.

these are the junkies, who want the fix so bad, they steal anything from anyone... they try to flip locks with no keys, stereo faces, a single bike tire... grandpa's class ring... anything , everything .. if you take anything, you are their new best friend.. they sing your praise loud .. if you deny them only once, they curse your name, they shout to customers how horrible you are, they threaten you with violence, attempt to fight you, pull knives, guns, and other weapons on you... they throw tantrums, and often attempt to break something in the store. they will stand outside of the storefront shouting insults and obscene language.. while pan handling and trying to convince customers not to patronize my business...

these are the career criminals. prison records. violent offenders. all they know is crime,and all they care about are themselves . they will try to sell stolen goods, lie about it , then try to steal my inventory on the way out. they will try to hustle everyone . they use volume to declare their importance . they use aggression to evoke fear.. they use threats, looks, gestures, and such to prove they aren't criminals, to attempt to force you to do the business they want . they will go to any length to make you feel as if you have no choice.. but i do. and i do not have to assist them.
this group causes, stress in my daily activities.. they cause fear in my employees. they cause my truly good customers such an unpleasant experience that they sometimes do not return, or at the very least, contemplate not returning .

these people aren't helpless... they aren't struggling , they aren't in a bind... they simply have evolved into soulless beings that seek to take advantage of, and destroy any and all around them . they believe the world owes them everything . they give nothing to anyone. violence. cheating. aggression. hate . a basic animal instinct of kill or be killed drives their every action

Day in day out dealings of these types can make you jaded, and leave you feeling hopeless about the state of mankind. they can leave you feeling helpless even. they COULD make you second guess, judge or question every other customer, or even those you interact with daily . losing faith in humanity is truly a terrible feeling and an awful place to end up.
however ... i'm not jaded. i don't hate mankind.


not because i'm able to look beyond the criminals. not because i'm strong willed .
but simply because of the smallest faction of my customer base. the 10%.
the struggling parent reminds me of why i'm working in the first place. to feed , and clothe and take care of my family.
the hard working dad reminds me, i need to save up money for my daughters birthday too..
the traveler reminds me, that there is always a possible opportunity coming .. that just because today is hard.. the destination isn't over and that the journey could be fruitful...that small 10% give me hope for this world , but most importantly, they remind me of who i am, and what i want and need to be doing . they remind me, to never take my life, my family, my success, my failure ,nor my job, for granted.
they also remind me not to take myself too seriously ... because honestly .. being a husband,dad,musician,and pawnbroker ....that's just the most ridiculous of life choices when you juggle all of them.