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Learning About An Old Scrooge I quietly went about my work, digging through the dumpster, and had found 11 labels, when a loud voice sounded behind me. “What do you think you’re doing?!” I turned to face the bright beam of a huge flashlight. The old man everyone nicknamed Scrooge also held a baseball bat threateningly. It took all my courage to speak. “I am gathering soup can labels.” He looked at me like he thought I had drunk fermented egg nog. “Why?” I explained about my little daughter wanting a wagon, and how I was a college student and couldn’t afford one. I then told him about the soup company promotion, and how if I could get 1000 labels I could get it for free. When I finished, I was sure he was going to call the police and have me arrested for trespassing. But instead, he asked, “How many do you have?” 20