"Be careful of men wearing hats." Not just any old hat, but fedoras and on men wearing suits, in the middle of the week. If such men were to present as customers in the confectionery store where I worked behind the counter as an eleven-year-old, I was to abandon a certain usual practice. This practice was to take from a customer a piece of paper, usually wrapped around one or two dimes or else a quarter, and put it in a drawer under the counter. No words were spoken: the paper spoke for itself, as for every ten cents in the folded up little packet, the paper would have a combination of 3 numbers written on it. No problem doing that, except for the specter of those men in suits, with hats. Actually, there were a few times when fedora-clad men did appear in the little store, and, most worrisome of all, they did exactly what I'd been warned they would do. They stood in front of the wall-length magazine rack and browsed through the wide array of magazines. Never, though, during those visitations did anyone ever attempt to hand me their "lucky numbers." It is certain that all the inhabitants of the underworld where I resided would have quickly seen through the cover of anyone wearing a suit and a hat not on a church day. Even a child knew who the bad guys were.
I must add though, my numbers running days did not last for long, ending at the death of the male co-owner of the store. The wife did not continue the life of crime.
(Tip of the day: 8-0-8 )
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