I made my stop in the morning, before that supper club ever opened, and I walked in the back the way I have for twenty-six years, straight to the little …

Twenty-six years I waited tables at the supper club off the lake, and the new owner fired me between the salad and the entrée for a fifty that came up short. Read More

Come Friday I found out exactly what my name was worth in that county, and it was a great deal more than the new postmaster ever reckoned. That something that …

Forty-one years I carried the mail on the same rural route out of a little post office in Iowa, and it ended over a certified letter that got misfiled for one single day. Read More

I got up early and walked down to that depot before the first train, because I meant to be standing on that platform when it arrived, with the truth in …

Thirty-three years at that little depot, and a supervisor with a budget put me out over a fare box. Read More

I got up before light and drove down to the water early, because I had something to settle before the bulldozers did, and the proof of it was sitting in …

Twenty-eight years I ran the bait shop on the lake, and the fellow building condos on it told me I was done. Read More

I got up this morning and drove out to that lot early, and I climbed to the projection booth with the key I still had, because that investor was going …

Thirty-one years running that drive-in, and an investor who bought the land to bury it told me to get off the property. Read More

Last night I made a call to an old member with a long memory, and this morning I drove out to meet him before the dinner ever started, because he …

Twenty-seven years behind the bar at the VFW, and they put me out over a cash box like I was a stranger off the street. Read More

I got up early and drove back before opening, and I let myself into the back office with the key the boy did not know I still had, and I …

Thirty-two years I kept the books at the feed and seed, and the owners college boy decided a short drawer was worth more than all of it. Read More

I got up early and headed back to that store before the doors opened, and I let myself in with my key and went straight to the loading dock, where …

Twenty-nine years I gave that hardware store, and the chain that bought it sent a manager to take it away over a pallet of fittings. Read More

I drove down to that shop before it opened, and I let myself in with the key I still had, and I went straight to the shelf above the mirror …

Thirty years Ive cut this towns hair, and a boy who bought the shop to flip it just told me to pack my clippers. Read More

Monday morning I did not drive to the depot. I drove to the union hall, to the old rep who had known me thirty years, and I laid it all …

They handed me a slip of paper and thirty-three years on the same day. Im still not sure which one stung worse. Read More