Monday morning, instead of clearing out my locker, I put on a clean shirt and went down to that depot to do the one thing management never expected. I filed …
28 years I drove the same city bus route, first light to dark. Read MoreBefore I turned in my keys, I drove down to the county building, walked past the front desk, and asked to speak to the one person that administrator answered to. …
31 years I kept the grounds at the county cemetery on the hill. Read MoreThe next morning I unlocked my little shop, made one arrangement more careful than any I had made in years, and carried it next door to the funeral home myself. …
29 years I ran the flower shop two doors down from the funeral home. Read MoreThe next morning I made two phone calls, put on my good jacket, and drove down to that landlord office to see him in person. The first call had been …
34 years I cut hair in the same barbershop on the corner of Elm and Second. Read MoreThe next morning I got up before dawn, put on a clean shirt, and drove back to that bar before the new owners had even unlocked the doors. But I …
26 years I tended bar at a place where everybody in three counties came to talk. Read MoreI put on my good dress and walked into the front office just as she was starting her day, and she looked up with that same pitying little smile. She …
32 years I taught third grade at the same little elementary school in our town. Read MoreThree days after they cut me, the new systems the manager was so proud of ground to a halt, and the whole floor went silent, and my phone rang. It …
30 years I fixed the machines on the floor of a factory that couldnt run without me. Read MoreAt the door, with the security guard watching and the resignation paper waiting, I turned around and asked the manager for one thing before I signed. Pull the key-card entry …
28 years I cleaned the rooms at a hotel that treated me like part of the walls. Read MoreI got off the bus at my stop, walked past that empty shop two doors down from the pharmacy, and by the time I reached my door I had already …
33 years I ran the front counter at a pharmacy in a town that grew up around it. Read MoreI sat in my car in that parking lot with the thing the founder asked me to look into resting in my lap, and instead of driving home, I turned …
29 years I kept the books for a small hardware store in the town where I was born. Read More