I was in a second hand store where a woman was going to give a class to about 15-20 people who had come into the store. The woman was going to teach how to buy things in second hand stores. I had already looked around the store and I hadn't seen much which interested me. But I did want to go to a room in the back of the store to look at some record albums which I hadn't yet seen.

I noticed a fellow pick up the top of a burgundy parking meter displayed in the store. I realized I had overlooked the parking meter and I thought I might have wanted to have bought it had I seen it. I didn't know how I had overlooked it. I recalled I had recently been to an auction and seen a similar parking meter sold. I tried to remember how much it had cost. I thought it was probably worth $25-30. I wondered how much it was being sold for in the store. I might have missed a good buy.

I thought the meter could be tested by simply putting a nickel in it. I wondered if the man who had it in his arms had been smart enough to do that. He might be buying it without even testing it out. Maybe he didn't want to risk his nickel.