What’s your favorite pawn shop story?
One of my favorite stories is this gentleman came in and I noticed that his wedding band was a pair of dice. And I said, ‘Hey, that’s very cool; that’s an unusual pattern. I really enjoy that.’ And he said, ‘Ya, I had to do that because marriage is really a gamble.’
Every day just being at the pawn shop, we meet and get to know different people and I enjoy each and every interaction regardless of whether it makes a good story. But that guy is one of my favorites; the rest of them I’m saving for the memoir.
Do you ever test new comedy bits on customers?
Always! Everybody’s ready to laugh. Everybody’s always ready to look on the brighter side of a situation, and anytime you can encourage somebody to look at the positive aspects of anything or at least just feel free to laugh about anything. Sometimes people wait until you’ve given permission to laugh about anything, but it always works out.
Actually, I’ve tested out probably three different comedy bits since we started this conversation … most of them didn’t land. A lot of disappointed and confused looks. So, it doesn’t always work out, but if you’re subtle about it enough people just think you’re a little weird. And I’ll take that.