Changing to preserve our legacy
Excited young people are swimming in the pleasant summer evening. The water is black and still. The harbour lights spread a strong, yellowish glow that illuminates the foam from irregular swimming strokes. Amused, we follow them attentively from the tranquillity of the cockpit of one of the boats in the harbour. They are getting nearer […]
Joining forces
In the spinney in my home neighbourhood, Calle and I started a business. We were six years old and what we had in our pockets we put in. Twenty kronor in all. We realized that we needed to make an initial investment to get started. Calle and I agreed about things most of the time. […]
Ideas on a running track
I’m a scrap dealer. Some people say I’m different, but different in a good way. I don’t know if they’re right, but I do have a lot of ideas. Mostly when I’m running. Like this morning. A cold November morning at half-past five, on a Saturday. I get a surprise in the dark on the […]
When small decisions turn into big ones
Milk spills over the breakfast table. Just after we have cleaned off the crumbs, cornflakes and toys. Just as we are about to leave, and just as we are about to be late. I am wearing a warm winter coat and my scarf is lying on the table. Out of the corner of my eye […]
Key business decision – don’t get married!
The leaves on the road muffle the sound of our car. One of the most successful and well-respected scrap metal buyers in Europe is sitting on the back seat of my car. I glance at him in the rear mirror, a middle-aged man in well-pressed trousers and a brown tweed jacket. He is stressing the […]
Close no doors
The world is a great adventure. I am allowed to come to the office today. I’m four years old, and I’m standing in front of a door on the second floor. It’s a black wooden door with a silver handle high up. I look at Papa, then back at the door. It’s so high I […]
Different cultures – our everyday experience
On one of my trips to Pakistan I visited Asia’s largest scrap market, located in Lahore. It’s called Misri Shah of this city of 10 million people. It was an unforgettable experience for me. There are several thousand merchants in an area with a circumference of about 2 km. For someone from the West like […]
A beating heart
She made her way with tired steps through the hall and out onto the cold floor of the kitchen where she began to make some coffee for breakfast. The dream that had seemed so real to her was now gone. She picked the last coffee filter out of the packet. Today there would be no […]
Inner drive
Grandmother owned an antique shop. The Second World War had just ended and optimism was on the rise again. The well-tended shop was just a stone’s throw from the royal palace on one of the busy, narrow streets in Stockholm’s old town quarter. Passersby stopped on the cobblestones and stared inside. The shop window was […]