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MR: When your mother was beginning to do the farming, what sorts of tools did she need?

MB: Well, the first thing she needed was a hoe and a shovel. And she could use the horses because Mr. Sunderland said we could use the horses if we fed and watered them, but she needed tools, some kind of hand tools. She had farm machinery because he used farm machinery for his orchard, and he had that, but she didn't have a shovel and a hoe, so she gave May some money and told May to go buy the shovel and a hoe, and May went to the hardware store and came home. And about the same time that May got home, Mrs. Sunderland was coming home from work. And seeing the hoe and the shovel, she asked May what she paid. May said she had paid twenty-six cents; twelve cents for the hoe and nineteen cents or, twelve cents for the hoe and let's see... anyway, it was twenty-six cents. And she said it shouldn't have cost you more than nineteen or twenty cents; eleven cents for the shovel and nine cents for the hoe. You take them right back and tell the man at the hardware store that he overcharged you. So my sister went back, took the shovel and told the man, and he ignored her. She kept telling him, but he kept ignoring her. Then a customer walked into the store, a man, and the hardware store man went to talk to the customer, and May kept hounding him, telling him that she owes, or he owes money. "He owes me change. He took advantage of a girl who didn't know anything. He owes me money, but he ignored her. And then a couple came in, a man and a lady, and my sister continued telling him he owed her money," but he ignored her. Well, she knew, since she went to the Woodlawn Methodist Church with Mrs. Sunderland, she knew that this hardware man went to the same church. So in a loud voice, she said, "Next Sunday at church, I'm going to announce that you overcharged me because you thought that I don't know anything and took advantage of me." Well, the man came over and slap some money into my sister's palm. When she got home, she found out that she had got both pieces for less than twenty cents, I don't remember. I don't remember what it was, but she had got more money back than she had paid him. He just wanted to get rid of her, and that's the story of the hoe and the shovel. And at Christmastime, the church had Christmas program. Even though Orga and I didn't belong to church, we thought we would go and maybe go too, but we didn't go into the church, and so we had to stay outside. And while my sister and Mrs. Sunderland were inside, we walked down the street where all the businesses were. There was a fire hall was there, the hardware store, drug store and a bakery; and of course, we were peeking in the window of the bakery to see all the pies and cakes and things. And then we noticed that bread was seven cents a loaf. At Thompson's, we paid eight cents. Here, it was seven cents a loaf, and day old bread was six cents, so we started going to Thompson's. Mr. Mondale gave us, I told you about that, I think.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2003 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.