register. “My customers wouldn’t do that,” he said.

She sipped her coffee while Gardener finished his

list, and then they went back into the store. She

picked up a few slug traps, a bottle of insecticidal

soap, and another bag of compost, and took them to

the counter.

Gardener rang them up for her. “Ah, trouble in gar-

den paradise?” Marsha shrugged. “Yep. Some bugs are

eating away at my vegetables. And I noticed some

dandelions and some other weeds, too.”

“Good. Good.” Gardener said, rubbing his hands.

“What? No way that’s any good,” Marsha said

impatiently.

“Sure it is. Don’t worry—we’ll get rid of your gar-

den pests. But it’s a good lesson for your sales garden,

too. Think about it.”

Marsha sipped some more coffee. “You mean that

I’m going to have tough times in my sales garden, too?

Some pests and weeds to deal with?”

“Exactly,” Gardener said. “In a nutshell, do you

always do the right thing when the going gets tough

with a customer? Their problems are your problems.”

“Let me see,” said Marsha. “I guess it stands to rea-

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