You never forget your first job. I know I remember mine.
Harris' hardware store. Down the hill from where I lived.
The year I started tenth grade.
It was the kind of place you don't see much of anymore.
Filled to the rafters with brackets, and bolts, and old screens.
Ya know, stuff on the cutting-edge of obsolescence.
It started as a summer job...
But once school began, Mr. Harris cut back my hours so I could keep working.
With the allowance Dad was paying me, I had no choice.
MR. HARRIS (V/O): What do you mean...MR. HARRIS: You can't ship on orders of less than a gross? Since when?
Old Man Harris. "Mr. Hardware" himself.
Let me tell you something. I've been ordering what I need from you people since before you were born.
MR. HARRIS (V/O): You heard my offer - I stand by it.
- Are we looking, or working? - Working.
- Then what stopped you? - Nothing!
- Then get to work. - Yessir.
As far as I could tell, his system of organizing the merchandise was based on the maximum number of times
I could climb from the bottom shelf to the top shelf and back again.
- Not so fast - what are these? - They're bolts...
- You sure? - Uh...yeah - toggle bolts.
MR. HARRIS: Used for what?
KEVIN: Used for...Fastening things. KEVIN: In plasterboard.
MR. HARRIS: Good.
It wasn't enough he knew everything about the business...
He seemed to think I should, too.
MR. HARRIS: So...Should they go with the sheet-metal bolts, or over there...closer to the plaster supplies?
KEVIN: Well, I...
- With the plaster supplies. - Do it then.
Not that I wasn't grateful for the education. I wasn't.
KEVIN (Sotto Voce): Gimme a break...
- What was that? - Nothing.
KEVIN: Mr. Harris, shouldn't we knock off? It's almost six o'clock.
- So? - So?
MR. HARRIS: Almost six o'clock is not six o'clock.
- Besides, there might be customers. - Sam?
MRS. HARRIS: Why don't you let him go a little early?
MR. HARRIS (V/O): Well...Pfff - alright. MR. HARRIS (V/O): Alright!
KEVIN: Thanks, Mrs. Harris.
And there ya had it. Two days a week after school...
Saturday's till six... I hauled, packed and loaded my life away...
For a grand total of eighteen bucks and change.
Not that money was my only reason for being there.
I had a bigger reason. A more compelling reason.
JACK: So...how was work today?
My father had gotten me the job.
- Work's work. - Old man's runnin' your tail off, huh?
KEVIN: Kinda.
For some reason Dad's in seeing his youngest child doing time at hard labor.
Come to think of it - so did my entire family.
WAYNE: So how was your day, hon-ey?
KEVIN: Shut up, butthead!
NORMA: I think it sounds like fun - working in a store...meeting people...
NORMA (V/O): Talking to customers...
KEVIN: Well...See, Mom, that's part of the problem. No one -
JACK (V/O): Old man Harris. JACK: He's one-of-a-kind.
Nobody knows hardware like he does. JACK: Do you know, he sold me my first full set of tools I ever owned.
KEVIN: Yes. I do, Dad. But -
JACK: That was before either of you were even born.
KEVIN: Look!
KEVIN: It's boring...It's hard work... KEVIN: And it's no fun, OK?
- OK?! Just to set the record straight, here.
JACK: No fun?
Oh, no... - Who the hell ever said a job is supposed to be fun?
- Well, I didn't mean - - Let me just give you a piece of advice.
Listen to the old guy - pay attention.
He just might teach you something.
That was that. I was stymied... By timeless values and and ironclad work ethic.
Which left only one place to turn.
"Takin' Care Of Business " - Bachman Turner Overdrive
The mall.
Hillcrest Plaza - "One-stop shopping".
A browser's bonanza. A teenagers "field of dreams".
- Who...is that? - Gretchen Tyler. Eleventh grade.
KEVIN (V/O): She goes to our school?
The place to ponder the burning issues of life.
- Come on, guys. I think I need some fries. - Yeah.
Yeah - this was the ticket. Girls to the left of us. Girls to the right.
Girls nine deep around some kid in a stupid hat and a plastic nametag.
PAUL (V/O): I don't believe it! PAUL: Look at that guy...
LEWIS: Robby Cashion. He's in my biology class.
Made ya wonder where his dad bought his first set of tools.
LEWIS: Sure beats working in a hardware store. Huh, Kev?
Speaking tools. - What's that supposed to mean?
- Yeah. There's nothing wrong with his job. - Thanks Paul.
I mean, it's one thing for me to grouse about my job...
Except for the long hours... And old man Harris. And that stupid tie.
LEWIS (V/O): Tell me about it.
Ah, what did they know, anyway? Some guys got all the glamour - so what?
There were certain benefits to working where I worked.
Flange pipes...Top shelf.
MR. HARRIS (V/O): Now, be sure you check the inventory thoroughly.
OK...the benefits stunk.
That didn't mean there weren't opportunities here.
Excuse me...My husband says... we need a washer.
- Oh, your husband is a plumber? - Oh, no - he's an accountant.
Oh...So is my oldest. He does my taxes. I never let him near my sink.
Yep - the chance to watch a master salesman at work.
Now let me see this. Oh...rubber - one crack and you lose the seal.
Now brass, copper are very good...they last.
MR. HARRIS (V/O): Absolutely indestructible.
MR. HARRIS: Unless you have hard water - then you get rust.
Do you have hard water, or soft?
WOMAN: I'm not sure. Um...Look - I have to meet the five-fifteen - my husband will be waiting...
WOMAN: Why don't I just come back another time?
- Well... - Thanks anyway...
Let's face it...the old man's idea of salemanship...Was a little outmoded.
So, seemed it was up to me... To bring him in...To the twentieth century.
- Mr. Harris? - What?!
One the otherhand...
KEVIN: Well...I was just thinking. Do I really have to wear this tie?
- I mean, 'cause if it's OK with you, I'd just as soon... - Let me tell you something.
When you're outside playing, you can wear what you want.
But when you're in here working... You'll wear the tie. Am I understood?
KEVIN: Yessir.
Needless to say, the whole thing hadn't gone as well as I'd hoped.
- Hey, Robby! Wait up. So I decided to explore the alternatives.
KEVIN: I saw you the other day at the mall...
KEVIN: And I was just wondering...do you like your job?
ROBBY: Oh, well...Yeah - it's OK. You know...it's a job.
KEVIN: And...what do you have to do there?
ROBBY: I don't know...you serve stuff - you hang out.
- And that's it? - Well, all the fries you can eat.
Seemed like a job for a special kind of guy. Like say...me.
- Why? Ya interested? - Nah...
- How much do they pay? - Uh, a buck sixty an hour.
Buck sixty an hour?
Even Dad...Couldn't argue with economic reality.
- Dad? I've been thinkin'. - Hnnhnh
- You work hard...for your money, right? - Hnh.
So...say you workin' somewhere, and you thought you deserved more. You'd do somethin' about it, right?
JACK: You betcha.
KEVIN: Even if it meant...makin' your boss mad?
JACK: Buck's a buck.
There. Sounded like a clear mandate to me.
JACK: Thinkin' about asking old man Harris for a raise?
- Kinda... - Hnnhnh.
And, with that ringing endorsement in hand, I made up my mind.
- Mr. Harris? - Yes?
There was only one way to do this. Honestly...Directly.
KEVIN: I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it on Saturday.
- Oh? - Yeah.
Actually, I don't think I'll be able to come in at all anymore.
MR. HARRIS: I see.
KEVIN: Yeah...
KEVIN: See there's this other job I might be taking.
MR. HARRIS: And where is this new place of employment?
- In the mall. - The mall?
That's where you want to go to work?
Selling crap that doesn't work to people that don't need it in the first place?
MR. HARRIS: What would you be doing?
KEVIN: Working. In a restaurant.
KEVIN: "Food service management".
Ah, what the hell. - It's a burger-joint.
MR. HARRIS: And this is how you want to spend your time - flipping hamburgers and watching the girls walk by?
Bingo. He finally understood.
KEVIN: No...
MR. HARRIS: Then why would you do a thing like this?
KEVIN: Because they pay fifteen cents more an hour.
MR. HARRIS: Oh...So that's it. I see.
MR. HARRIS: Fifteen cents an hour...
Sure it was a bitter pill... But what else could the guy do?
- I'll pay you twenty. - What?
MR. HARRIS: Just prove to me that you're worth it - sweep!
Rats!
- Uh...certainly. - Great!
MR. HARRIS: Of course, anytime you have a social engagement,
and work interferes...you just let me know. We'll close the store.
- Hey, look - all I'm asking for here is a just... - We have an agreement.
MR. HARRIS: You work here Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
And I pay you - what now? One dollar and sixty five cents...An hour.
Maybe now you would like me to pay you double-time for the days you don't work.
And that's when it hit me. The guys had been right.
I wasn't an employee, here. I was... In bondage.
I was....A slave.
I had to act. Put this in perspective. Job-stress was getting me down.
JACK: Huh? Yeah, sure...Your mother and I were up half the night.
This damn drip. What's up?
KEVIN: It's about Mr. Harris.
JACK: Yeah...I heard you got a raise. That's terrific.
KEVIN: Yeah...well...
KEVIN: What's the matter?
JACK: Well, it came apart OK...Put in a new washer, and now I can't seem to get it...To hold together.
KEVIN: Where's your bib screw?
JACK: Huh?
KEVIN: You know - your bib screw. Probably fell down the drain.
KEVIN (V/O): It happens all the time. They're easy to replace.
And the way he looked at me, for one second...I almost felt good about...hardware.
KEVIN: You know, we sell bib screws down at Harris'.
JACK: Ah, that's OK. I'll probably shoot over to the mall.
- The mall? - Well, it's closer...easier to park...
JACK: Besides, you know the old man... JACK: If I stop in...he'll talk to me for hours, chewin' my ear off.
JACK (V/O): I don't have that kind of time. You know what I mean.
I couldn't believe it.
This man..."Mr. Listen-and-Learn" was telling me...he didn't have time?
KEVIN: Sure, Dad. I know what you mean.
But I didn't.
I just didn't.
I meant to go right to work that afternoon.
But when I got to the store...for some reason...
I didn't go in.
I didn't want to be there, anymore.
Hell, I knew nobody else did either.
I went to the mall. Hung out with friends.
It was busy...and alive.
I hardly thought about old Mr. Harris at all.
Well, not much, anyway.
By the time I got back, I guess I pretty much figured he was gonna fire me.
Maybe I was just hoping he would.
- You're late. - I know...
KEVIN: Mr. Harris, can I talk to you?
MR. HARRIS (V/O): Very well.
MR. HARRIS: You were late today. I understand...you needed to prove something.
It's alright, it's forgotten. I'll see you on Tuesday.
KEVIN: Well, I'm not going to be coming in anymore.
You see... I took the job at the mall - I start Monday.
Don't be foolish. You work here.
KEVIN: But I don't want to work here anymore. Don't you understand that?
MR. HARRIS: You're a bright boy.You could make something better of yourself!
KEVIN: I wouldn't call stocking hardware something better!
MR. HARRIS: Oh, I see.
KEVIN: Mr. Harris, all I do here is move cartons from one shelf to the other, and listen to you talk about hardware!
KEVIN: No one even comes in here anymore - no one wants to.
MR. HARRIS (V/O): Is that so! MR. HARRIS: Let me tell you something...
- Sam! - The hardware business -
MRS. HARRIS (V/O): Sam...The boy wants to go.
KEVIN: You don't even need me here most of the time.
MR. HARRIS: I know that.
MR. HARRIS: I would like you to keep working here, but I won't try to make you stay.
MR. HARRIS: I've made my offer. I stand by it.
WOMAN (V/O): Excuse me...
WOMAN: About that washer...I asked my husband, and he said we have hard water.
KEVIN: Yes...Then you'll need plastic...Because...metal rusts in hard water. What you gets want?
KEVIN: No, it's OK. It's only a nickel.
- Thank you. - Come again!
I felt him watching me.And somehow, I knew what he was thinking.
How much I learned, how much he taught me.
But I was fifteen. I lived in a world that was new and alive, and exciting.
And everything here was old.
Maybe it was stupid.
That's also part of being fifteen.
I traded in my tie for a stupid hat and a plastic nametag at the mall.
When I left a month later - no one cared.
But every time I pick up a flat-head screw, I think of old man Harris,
and how those cowbells clanged as I walked out that door.
And even though I can't say exactly what I gained ...
I know I can't measure...what I lost.
��Every time it rains it rains�� "Pennies From Heaven" - Billie Holiday
��Pennies from heaven��
��Don't you know each cloud contains��
��Pennies from heaven��
��You'll find your fortune falling��
��All over town��
��Be sure that your umbrella��
��Is upside down��
��Trade them for a package of��
��Sunshine and flowers��
��If you want the things you love��
��You must have showers��
��So when you hear it thunder��
��Don't run under a tree��
��There'll be pennies from heaven��
��For you and me��
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