Pickleman
Some cities are known for beer, some are known for pizza, or beans, or cheese.
Ganse-Stadt is known for pickles, thanks to the efforts of Juergen, also called the Pickleman. Juergen started raising vegetables in a medium sized garden for himself. It produced enough vegetables that he had some to sell at the market in Ganse-Stadt too. His wares sold well, usually all were gone by the end of the day. The pickles were the first to be gone, no matter how many he brought to market. Some customers even asked if he had some already pickled pickles. He didn’t, but it certainly gave him an idea. If he packed pickled pickles on his cart, he could sell them year round, not just in season. He was right, his pickled pickles were in demand. Juergen, being a good businessman, increased his pickle production accordingly. The pickled pickle packing production looked promising. In season he sold whatever pickles he could, the rest were pickled for future use during the off season. One year a disaster was narrowly avoided. Workers were bringing the last barrel of vinegar from the ware house to the pickle production line. The barrel broke loose from the wagon, rolled down the hill, into the river which was unusually high. The swift current carried it downstream out of sight. No vinegar, no pickles, Ganse-Stadt is doomed to be pickle-less for a whole year, until more vinegar would be available until next season. The pickle factory stopped production. Some of the workers went to the Gathering Place to talk about their loss and make plans for the pickle-less months ahead. Others went to the river thinking may be the barrel came ashore someplace. It didn’t. Suddenly there was a loud cheering by the river, the steam boat was coming and it was towing a big barrel. The river boat captain somehow managed to rescue the “roll away” barrel. Ganse-Stadt was saved from doom, the vinegar barrel was returned. That evening at the Gathering Place there was much joy. There was even talk about starting a picklefest in Ganse-Stadt. Pickleman being a good businessman decided to think about it. |