(re-run) I met a guy at a dance. We emailed each other for a week (before texting). We decided to meet at Bing Crosby’s. I took a seat at the bar, and asked for water. After all, I’d had two glasses of wine already, waiting for him to get off work at the TV station… Continue reading Late-night Loser
Category: relationships
A Victoria’s Secret Box with Dinner
(re-run) Saundra met Duke online on Match. They agreed to meet at Scott’s Seafood restaurant in Walnut Creek for dinner. When she got there, he was already seated and waved her over. As she approached the table she noticed a dozen lavender roses in a vase. She remembered that Duke had asked her favorite color.… Continue reading A Victoria’s Secret Box with Dinner
A Ghost Story
(re-run) This isn’t a Halloween story. No words are written in blood on the hallway walls, no moaning spirits or flickering lights, or candles blowing themselves out. Just a feeling of not being alone. Ghosts, if you will, leftover energy from those who came before us. As a child I was called the sensitive one.… Continue reading A Ghost Story
Jerky Jokester
(re-run) Elena lived in San Francisco. She went to the Cingular store to get a cell phone line. Fidel saw her and helped her get one set up. She filled out the paperwork and then changed her mind. He put the paperwork into the shredder but then asked her for her phone number. “If you… Continue reading Jerky Jokester
Do You Want a Cookie, Little Girl?
(re-run) Pam ran a personal ad in the Contra Costa Times: Single white female looking for single Asian man. Her two previous boyfriends had been Asian. James called and left a message with his phone number on a Friday night. The next morning Pam checked her phone messages. She liked his voice as she listened… Continue reading Do You Want a Cookie, Little Girl?
Oh No, Not the Warriors!
(re-run from 2018) Last week I took Sis to the hospital for a Barium Swallow test. We had just settled into the waiting room when an elderly woman with a cane came in the door. She had to go around Sis’s wheelchair to get to the check-in window. “Am I at the right place?” she… Continue reading Oh No, Not the Warriors!
Letting Go
(re-run) My cars sit out every summer since there’s no way they can go into the garage. Fires are burning north of here and have been for weeks. The Bay Area air is smoky. I look at the blue plastic tubs of flammable clothing and think, “It would take days for all of this to… Continue reading Letting Go
False Alarm
(re-run) Donnie was a firefighter and had a date with Lisa from Match.com. The date was just okay, but he knew there were only two kinds of women, those he would sleep with and those he wouldn’t. Lisa was in the first category. According to Donnie, men never had a wait-and-see attitude about a woman.… Continue reading False Alarm
Parking Lot Pick-up
(re-run) Edith and Laura were bored. It was Saturday night, and they’d been at their all-girls’ school, Holy Names, for a whole week. It was time to find some guys, to find a party. They pulled into Berkeley and headed for Fraternity Row. Laura spotted someone she had dated before and rolled down the window.… Continue reading Parking Lot Pick-up
Hold the Crunch
(re-run) Jim’s job was to put the crunch in Jif, the new peanut butter to rival Skippy. One machine chopped the peanuts into slivers, and another machine used pistons to plug the slivers into the creamy product. Jim also had to taste-test peanut butter that had been sitting on a shelf for three months in… Continue reading Hold the Crunch
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 