An Introduction: The Way I Found Myself in Campbell

I was selling the Mercury News and assigned a spot in Los Gatos at the Peet's Coffee and Tea on the corner of Blossom Hill and Los Gatos Boulevard, within a large shopping center.

It was easy going. I showed up and sold 60 to 70  papers. I was there for three months when I was approached by a young gentleman asking if I had a permit to work in that parking lot.

I asked, "Who are you?" and he said he worked for a division of the Los Gatos Police Department. He was called because there was a complaint to the owner of the shopping center that I was taking away business and was wondering who I was. 

I replied, "You've got to be kidding me. I sell 60 to 70 papers, and you've got two stores, that can't be."

He told me I needed a permit to be here, and I told him I'd call my boss, so I walked to the payphone. I could still see him in the distance and I talked to my boss. A bit later, two patrol cars pulled up in the distance, so I got off the phone and approached the police officers and the kid. The police officer pulled out paperwork with an ordinance explaining I needed a permit to be there.

I left, and at the end of the day, my boss met me at Bascom Avenue, near the Los Gatos-San Jose border. So I sat there with half my papers on the corner and didn't sell any. My boss came down 30 minutes later, said he wasn't aware of the permit situation in Los Gatos and apologized, and told me, "We've got a spot in Campbell's Farmers Market," and I've been here ever since. It was a blessing in disguise.

I haven't missed a Sunday ever since (10 years!). And now, I'm one of the assistants to the farmers market.