Macaroni

Chapter 4

"Why do you want to work at an antique store?" Scottie asked, delighted to be interviewing for his new position.

"Well, I love antiques. I love old things. I love the idea of keeping things from being thrown away." Bebe was also delighted to be interviewing. "So many people buy new things and then throw them away. I love the idea of participating in retaining the flow of retail into the good old years." She noticed herself saying the word old multiple times and wondering if Scottie was sensitive, then kept going because this is a freaking antique store! she reminded herself. "I just love antiques. I love antique stores. I love this antique store! And I'd love to work here with you." She noticed herself gushing. This was too much. Too much. No one needed to love antiques that much to work in an antique store and she didn't need to smother this old sweet man in order to get a job.

But Scottie was delighted at her enthusiasm. "When can you start? And I'm paying minimum wage. Are you ok with that?"

Bebe ran numbers in her head, still worried about paying the babysitter, and wondering if she'd break even. She explained her predicament to Scottie and he understood. He offered a couple more dollars an hour and she accepted. The deal was done. They planned for her to start the following week. Scottie was excited to have someone so excited to work with every day, and Bebe was excited to be in a mostly adult environment. There was even a note on the front door warning parents with small children to watch them closely or take them down the street to the local downtown park. Scottie didn't want small children breaking large amounts of inventory in one fell tantrum, and Bebe was ecstatic to work with someone who had appropriate respect for a mother of three while at the same time not once asking to meet the three little ones.

Scottie told her the story of how he started working in the shop and all of his booths. They shared a laugh about all of the interesting things that people collected, old magazines, stamps, cows, artwork. Bebe made a snide comment about collecting small children and Scottie laughed. He and Emma had no children, and Scottie felt alone sometimes without generations to follow him. Sometimes he thought that's what his love of antiques was about - antiques allowed him to pass along his wisdom to other generations, younger generations. And here right in front of him was a younger generation to pass along wisdom to, and he was going to take that opportunity, by golly.