Thursday, I got dressed up, drove downtown, walked into that office, and sat down across from Bertram Fiore, who is eighty-one and still goes in three days a week. He …
Three Years Ago I Signed My House Over to My Son, and Last Sunday His Wife Gave Me Thirty Days — Thursday I Drove Downtown Read MoreI poured my coffee, sat down on the patio, and told my lawyer to stand down. He did not like it. Ted has been my lawyer since 1994 and he …
I Sold My Landscaping Business and Gave My Son the Money, and He Told His Investors I Was a Dirt Farmer Who Got Lucky Read MoreMonday morning, a man from the bank called about the storefront. I sat down with my coffee, and I told him no. Sixty-six years old. My knees are shot, my …
Thirty-Four Years I Worked the Floor at Vandermeer’s Hardware, and the Chain Sent a Kid to Fire Me by the Pipe Fittings Read MoreAt half past one, the first car pulled into my driveway. Then the second. Then my brother-in-law’s truck, and my niece, and by two there were nine vehicles out there …
Twenty Years I Cooked Every Holiday for This Family, and This Thanksgiving She Banned Me From My Own Recipes — Then the Cars Started Coming Read MoreFriday afternoon I was cleaning out my closet when the school board president walked in, closed the door, and set a photocopy on my utility sink. Gil Fontenot. Sixty-two, owns …
Twenty-Nine Years I Was the Custodian at Jefferson Elementary, and She Fired Me in the Hallway I Waxed the Night Before Read MoreFriday came. I ordered the hot dogs, and I did not say one word about Blake. Not one. Ronnie and I sat at that food court table fifty minutes and …
Thirty Years at Costco, and My Son-in-Law Still Calls Me the Guy Who Stacked Toilet Paper — Then Friday Came and I Ordered the Hot Dogs Read MoreMonday morning my phone rang, and it was Miss Earlene’s son, and I will tell you right now that he is not a lawyer, which is what everybody in this …
Twenty-Six Years I Worked That Store, and He Fired Me by the Shopping Carts in Front of the Saturday Crowd — Monday My Phone Rang Read MoreI let it ring twice, poured my coffee, picked up, and my son could not get the first sentence out. He was in his truck in a parking lot at …
Nine Years I Raised My Son’s Kids, and She Fired Me From My Own Grandbabies at the Dinner Table — Monday Morning My Phone Rang Read MoreThen the phone rang, and it was a woman named Corliss Weyandt calling from the parish hall at St. Joseph’s at twenty till five, and she was not calling to …
Thirty-One Years I Cooked at the Same Diner, and He Fired Me Sunday Morning With the Church Crowd Watching — Then Monday the Phone Rang Read MoreMonday morning, I got up at five like I have since Reagan, poured my thermos, drove down to the plant, and stood outside the shop gate just as first shift …
Twenty-Nine Years I Ran the Parts Cage, and They Fired Me Because a Computer Said I Do Not Exist Right — Monday I Stood at the Gate Read More