When I first walked into the empty, run down mall, which was a loose term for this place, I couldn't believe how much it had changed. I had fond memories of riding on the double decker carousel beside the food court with my grandmother when I was little. Back then, the Hickory Ridge Mall was a different place, filled with people having fun, shopping, eating, talking and laughter. Now, the entire place was a ghost town, over half of the mall shut off, and the other half that was open was almost completely abandoned except for a few stores down each corridor. If anything, this place felt like the scene of a zombie movie as I walked through the creepy echoing interior. I walked from the main entrance all the way to the middle, gazing around in awe. I was then unhappily greeted by a grumpy security guard who asked me if I was lost. I told her I was looking for [[Ernest]] Fields and that I'd seen an ad online that he was looking for a graphic designer. She pointed me towards a long corridor leading to the south entrance and said, "he's down that way," so headed past the food court down to the shop, wondering why there were so many stores that were closed or abandoned, or just plain weird; a giant prayer room on the left and a dance studio on the right. If only in that moment I'd have turned around and gone home... The south end of [[The Mall - Ernest Fields & MG]] felt busier than anywhere I'd walked so far, but I realized it's only because there was some sort of public service center there. It was the sort of place where you could get assistance with MLGW bills, so there was always people coming and going. As I approached Ernest Fields Screen Print & Apparel, I couldn't believe that it felt like an actual store in the midst of this empty hollow. Was this an oasis? It seemed legitimate and as I walked up to the counter, I was greeted by a young woman who seemed confused but delighted to see me. I told her I was here because there was an ad for a graphic designer and she perked up and said "I'll go get Ernest!" She came back and Ernest walked from around the corner. He seemed like a nice guy and asked if I'd submitted a resume, which I hadn't. I explained that I used to come here with my grandmother when I was little and when I saw the ad was for a place here, I had to go explore and see it for myself. After all, I didn't even know this mall was still open. He smiled and we talked a bit. He seemed genuine and I decided I'd come back in a few days to see if it was a good fit for me. At this point in my life, I had a strong desire to help the black community and I truly felt like this might be where I was supposed to belong. If only I'd known. When I first started I was trying to learn how to design for people that I wasn't anything like, so this was a stretch. The design aesthetic they were into was totally different than anything I'd had to create so it was a refreshing challenge to me. However, before I'd even been there, the other side of Ernest's business, his clothing brand Millionaire Grind, was robbed and everything was taken. I couldn't believe it. Was I bad luck? Surely, I thought they had to have caught them on the security cameras but apparently the cameras were offline. To top it off, the mall didn't even have security cameras that were recording, they were straw men... There's no way no one saw what happened or who did it, but after talking to different people in the mall and security guards, no one saw a thing. "How!?" I thought... I couldn't believe it. I felt so bad for Ernest since I knew he'd just restocked all of the clothing and was preparing to launch some new colors, but now he had nothing. I talked with him and agreed to work for less than I should have, but I couldn't let someone fail like that, in spite of the weird camera situation and lack of security at the mall.