“You took like a space cadet this morning,” Jim told me with a warm and kindhearted smile as he came to me to ring up his lunch.
I smiled back and told him I was going on very little sleep. My eyes were red and bleary looking.
“They’ve got an Italian cold cuts combo on sell for a good price in the deli – lots of pepperoni,” Jim told me of his lunch.
The sandwich he did bring to me to get rung up looked delicious.
“What are you going to do when you get off?” Jim then asked me.
“I am craving pizza this morning,” I told him. “I am going to eat a Tombstone pepperoni and then go to bed. It will probably give me terrible heartburn knowing my luck.”
“Well, I am going back to put up more underpriced green beans,” Jim said with a smile as he took leave of my not very social behavior.
Around 4am to 5am is when things get very interesting as George arrives.
“Is that the sun I see shining just below the horizon outside?” George asked on one of his breaks of a very beautiful morning unfolding outside the store’s doors.
“Don’t get too excited,” I told him dourly. “We are under a winter storm watch.”
“I’ve found someone who has a harder, colder job than me in the mornings,” George told me with a smug look on his face. “It’s the guys who pickup the trash in our neighborhoods. Those guys must freeze their ass off picking up all that trash.”
I smiled and agreed. Anything to make George keep his job. I just hope he keeps working. Mrs. Florene and I have a lot riding on this.
2 comments:
If you illustrated these posts it would be like a children's book, but for adults. Because that is what the posts read like. There is a simple, honest, childlike quality to them. Remember the old "Highlights" magazine? On the coffee table in the doctor's or dentist's office. They had a feature called "Goofus and Gallant." The situations always had a simple moral. Of course, adult situations and morals are more complex, or so we like to believe. But the simplicity of the childish illustrations could provide the richness of subtle irony.
Just keep reminding George that working hard, even in the cold weather is easier than being in prison. That alone should be an incentive for him to stay on track. You are a great friend!
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