I got my first EDC at a mall at like, 12. Tasteful-looking fake wood, actually (considering what they had), a single-edge dagger shape, half-serrated, of course. We got all our knives and pipes and related items there as young teens, it was great, the old Indian man who ran it was a wonderful pal. Found the knife again at 18, used it to cut down a noose someone had hidden in my local wilderness, realized I should carry a proper knife, and, here I am, 30 Spydies and Victorinox and 10 Cold Steel and and and into this hobby... it was my start, looking at "badass" knives!
Once brought a crazy dude there, he bought a hollow-handled knife, fills it with weed and brings it to school the following Monday, was about 15 now, and it would have been unnoticed if he did not have a total meltdown at the end of the day, 5th period, out of 6, throwing his chair, swearing and all, all out of a random urge he had to stand up cause his "legs hurt". Last words I hear before Security and the Dean got him were "Fv[k you, Dean!" as though it was his name.
I felt a little bad for showing this dude the store, knowing he was more than a little nanners, after he threw smoke bombs in the road over the side of his gated community, in his dad's Escalade, in the oven and then in his living room, scorching the crap out of it all, and stabbing/letting us carve the crap out of his walls, before firing on his own walls and starting some fires in plastic bottles... (gotta love rich gated communities) until he started making some molotov cocktails with IBC bottles, and throwing them out his back door at an adjacent parking lot over the gate, but hit at tree... at that point, I ran.... like I said, felt bad, until myself, my girlfriend at the time and like 4 other friends found ourselves in the office talking to a cop cause he told them he knew we knew he had it. Thank God they did not identify the guy over the age of 18 there with us, he has this unfortunate habit of buying people things they use improperly. Bought one guy a bottle of vodka and he set fire to the apt. of his ex and baby (they lived) and then committed police suicide at a middle school in town. Knife Full O' Weed.... should be a song. Guy has since been shot in the head and had a child, the experience seemed to make him get his priorities straight. Even though he now goes by "Turbo". Seriously.
Mall Knife Adventures.
