What
began as a normal day at the mall would soon turn in to a powerful life lesson.
Erick was living in Healdsburg, CA at the time, only 15 years old. He was a
football player, a tough guy. It was the year 2005 and the living was easy. On
a day like any other, Erick and his friends decided to take a stroll around the
Santa Rosa Mall, as they often did. As he recalls, " The weather was hot
and we wanted to feel some relief." There's nothing better than hanging
out with your friends on the weekend, no school or obligations to worry
about.
According
to Simon Malls, the Santa Rosa Plaza has over 120 stores, ranging from food, to
top fashion. The North Bay Business Journal informs us that the mall is 700,000
square feet in length. Before what we know as the newly renovated mall, with
parking that you now have to pay for, the mall was a simple, fun place to hang
out at. After all, you could buy yourself a smoothie, a new outfit for your
first day back at school and as Erick pointed out, even go home with a hermit
crab.
With
his dad, siblings and a few of his closest friends by his side, Erick walked
through the mall that day well accompanied. He admittedly said that his dad,
“didn’t really understand the concept of space,” after he asked him if they
could venture off on their own. He was very active and always enjoyed physical
activity and “you’ve got to look good doing it,” he said as I asked him about
his favorite store, so he spent a lot of time in Footlocker, looking for the
perfect kicks to sport around school and sport around the football field when
it came down to practice and game time.
“Nowadays
the mall is mainly fashion and food but there used to be a pet store there,”
Erick informed me. Initially he always gravitated toward the dogs, “I’m a dog
person,” Erick chuckles. While they had pets as younger kids, his dad hadn’t
allowed them to have a dog yet. With saddened eyes, Erick walked pass the dogs
this time and toward the more, unusual animals.
Admittedly,
Erick says that he was a stubborn kid, set in his ways. Often rebelling against
society and what his parents told him to do, he didn’t take his father’s
warning seriously as he told Erick that day not to taunt the hermit crabs. He
recalls, “I couldn’t help but laugh that of all things my dad was worried about
the puny hermit crab!” When I asked what he did to taunt them he stated, “ We
blew on them, we moved their cages around, we poked their backs, all in good
fun though.” Meanwhile, after seeing this, his dad began to get angry with
Erick, telling him in Spanish to knock it off.
The
sign on the glass cage said to ask before handling but Erick didn’t heed the
warning and grabbed one of the hermit crabs quickly, without giving it a second
thought. He remembers thinking, “this little guy couldn’t hurt me.” As Erick is
holding the crab in his hand, he decided it would be funny to put him close to
his nose. His friends break out in laughter and his dad rolls his eyes. Saying
dumb things directly to the crab as he pinched its body and looked it straight
in the eyes, next to his, he said that it was all fun and games for about a
minute until the crab started to fuss and move its legs. “Ouch!” Erick
screamed, loud enough for the entire mall to hear him. The hermit crab had
pinched his nose, and hard. His dad laughed, “He pointed at me and said I told
you so, as he often did.”
It
turns out parent’s warnings, usually come from a sound place. If he had only
listened, he could have escaped the pinch but then we wouldn’t be able to laugh
about it either. “Not only did I get a small lecture in the car ride home about
how I shouldn’t taunt animals but I had a huge bruise on my nose for what
seemed like a month!”
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