Teaching high school didn’t open up many dating possibilities at work, unless you count the weird science teacher with the orange stick-up hair and the pocket protector, or the short English teacher who did impersonations as well as anyone on Saturday Night Live. One night, as I was complaining that I couldn’t find any good… Continue reading Big Jack, Little Jack
Category: marriage
Horseback Riding on a First Date
(re-run) Juan met two women named Donna in one night while dancing in a bar. He had a matchbook with one of their phone numbers on it and another matchbook with the other’s name and number on it. He couldn’t remember which was which, so he picked a matchbook and called. “Hi, this is Juan.… Continue reading Horseback Riding on a First Date
Waitresses Make the Best Tippers
(re-run) After moving to Omaha and teaching for a couple of years across the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa, I grew tired of driving a car that smelled like a mildewed basement. My Chevy Monza (first car ever) had suffered through a Nebraska flood back at the farmhouse, and the car stank. I couldn’t… Continue reading Waitresses Make the Best Tippers
Two Dates, Two Dolls
(in honor of my parents) He was tall and lanky. She was short with a great smile. They were the leads in the school play at Des Moines Tech high school in 1947. They flirted on and off stage. They even had a kissing scene. Joanne knew Bill was the one. Bill asked her out.… Continue reading Two Dates, Two Dolls
Orphan Thanksgiving and the Babe Mobile
Bruce was a lieutenant in the navy, and he lived with four bachelor roommates. They’d been out to sea for six months and were back for six months. A guy could save up a lot of money in six months, so Bruce was able to buy a silver Jaguar xke convertible. He nicknamed it his… Continue reading Orphan Thanksgiving and the Babe Mobile
Loved the House, Not the Marriage
I donated a big bag of curtains this week. I’d been saving the curtains from each of the last three houses I’ve lived in, here in California, all in the same town as my current house. Who has lived in four houses in one town? Me. The first house was the starter home for a… Continue reading Loved the House, Not the Marriage
Your Place or Mine?
(re-run) When we were in our twenties and thirties, we were looking for a husband and father of our future children. Our biological clocks ticked louder the closer we got to 35, the cut-off point for a low-risk pregnancy. Yes, older women give birth after that, but fertility drops off in the thirties, and it… Continue reading Your Place or Mine?
The Princeton Ploy
(re-run) It was Sue’s third day as a freshman at Temple University in Philadelphia. She was riding the elevator with her friends between Hardwick and Johnson Hall when he got on. He had all of his stuff. He was moving in. “School started already,” one of her friends said. “I was in San Diego,” he… Continue reading The Princeton Ploy
Lola Meets Ricardo
(re-run) Lola met her forever husband on the first day of college at the University of Iowa. She had signed up for a speech and composition class with an emphasis on women’s studies. When she got to the classroom, there was a note on the door saying that the class had been moved to another… Continue reading Lola Meets Ricardo
The Single Dad and the Dental Hygienist
(re-run) Bob’s friend had a dental office, and Bob would often stop by to visit. Joy, the married dental hygienist, offered to fix him up with single clients getting their teeth cleaned. If the women were game for a blind date with Bob, he was game, too. Joy would call Bob with the woman’s phone… Continue reading The Single Dad and the Dental Hygienist
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 