Goldy Locks

My early days at Endingen kept me on the lookout for sources that would break my five euro notes into one and two euro coins because sometimes when I reached office in the morning I found that I was short of cigarettes and loose change too, and the result: I could not get the cigarette vending machine near the office to cough out a pack of fags.
I noticed on one of my forays that the only shop close to the office was a huge warehouse stored with hardware and such stuff high unto the ceiling that reached at least two storeys.
One day, on the way to my office I noticed that again I was short of those elusive coins. So I got into this shop and as I entered I heard a small alarm ring, followed by a movement somewhere on top of a rung at the top.
When the person slowly climbed down towards me I found that the keeper in charge was a tall lithe blonde lady and not the surly gruff voiced warehouse keeper that I expected the person would be.
She approached me and asked something in German that I didn't quite understand at all. Safely guessing that she was asking what it was that I wanted, I looked around for something I could buy. Something small and affordable.
All I could see was tins and tins of paint, varnish, iron and steel, lawnmowers and things I just could not discern.
Then I found them. A couple of small innocent looking brass locks hanging near the wall behind me. The kind of small locks that would hold together the zippers of your travel baggage.
I pointed to them and mumbled in English that I wanted to buy one.
She reached out and handed me one and as I handed her a five euro note I got the small lock with precious booty- two and one euro coins and some cents.
I hoped she would not put two and two together as I headed towards the cigarette vending machine almost opposite the shop.
A few days later I returned to the shop to buy one of those locks that had turned out to be my lucky charm. This time too the lady expressionlessly handed me a little brass lock and saw me hurry eagerly to the cigarette vending machine with the loose change.
I started wondering how many more unnecessary locks I would be buying before my trip home.