Being in retail for twelve years was my eye opener to the range of intelligence of the general public. I thought I’d seen and heard it all teaching public school for ten years, but I was, oh, so very wrong. These people made my remedial English 8th graders of yesteryear look like down-right geniuses. The… Continue reading Worst Customers Ever
You Can Take the Girl Out of Iowa . . .
At the end of my ten-week student teaching in Venezuela, one of the teachers said that I could interview to come back to teach at Campo Alegre the following year. She said they were always looking for American teachers. “You can stay with me during the summer,” she said, “until you get your apartment.” The… Continue reading You Can Take the Girl Out of Iowa . . .
The Princeton Ploy
It was her third day as a freshman at Temple University in Philadelphia. Sue 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 said.… Continue reading The Princeton Ploy
Looking for Jade in Alaska
Sophia was living in Sonoma County and took her new dog to the beach. The black lab needed a name. An old man was there looking at pebbles in the water. She struck up a conversation with him, and he told her he was looking for Jade. On the way home, Sophia decided Jade was… Continue reading Looking for Jade in Alaska
Grabby Guy’s Goodness
Brenda was a grad student at Tufts in Boston. She was tired of dating and was thinking of getting her doctorate in nutrition after she got her Master’s degree. Brenda’s two roommates, who were also a couple, told Brenda she needed a night out to go dancing. Brenda got ready and then waited for them… Continue reading Grabby Guy’s Goodness
Worst Neighbors Ever
When I was twenty-eight I bought my first house, in Omaha, on 50th Avenue, south of Leavenworth. It was a cute little two bedroom, one bath with a full basement and big fenced-in backyard. Since I wanted to get a dog, it seemed perfect. I had a budget, and this house was in my price… Continue reading Worst Neighbors Ever
Worst Mom Ever
A mother has to choose her words and actions carefully, for eighteen years! The mom of three adults, I still hear about the horrible things I said and the awful things I did to them as children. Oldest daughter, as a teen, with her dad’s dark heavy eyebrows — What I said to her —… Continue reading Worst Mom Ever
Grindr Getaway
How does a sixty-year-old woman find out about an app called Grindr for gay guys? She asks her local millennial cocktail waitress at an upscale bar for a worst date story. Her waitress just happens to know her younger brother’s worst first story and tells it to her for a better tip. Here it is.… Continue reading Grindr Getaway
Say What in Santa Cruz
Jennifer met Brad at San Leandro High school. She wasn’t allowed to date, but she was allowed to go to junior prom. The next year Brad asked Jennifer to Senior Ball. It was in San Francisco, and afterward, they went to Pier 39 with everyone else in their limo. Brad had gotten blue contacts for… Continue reading Say What in Santa Cruz
Peace Corps Fail
It was in the spring of my first year of teaching when the call came. I was at Greenwood Elementary in Greenwood, Nebraska. I had applied to the Peace Corps the year before. They had just seen my application. They wanted to fly me to Chicago for an interview that weekend. They gave me 24… Continue reading Peace Corps Fail
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 