When I was a newlywed, living in San Diego, my next door neighbor, Doreen, befriended me. She noticed I was home alone a lot, since my teaching job ended at 3:00, and my new husband didn’t come home from work until 7:00 or so. Doreen invited me over for food and chit chat. Once, she… Continue reading Worst Dog-sitting Ever
Romance, Coast to Coast
Nicky went back to Connecticut to see his mother. “You’ve got to meet this cute Italian girl working in my office,” a friend said. “I’m only here for a week,” Nicky said. Another friend said, “My wife is in night class with a cute Italian girl. You two should meet, since you’re both Italian.” “I’m… Continue reading Romance, Coast to Coast
Best Music Lessons Ever
When I was seven, I began my musical career by writing a song about going to the drugstore for candy. My first composition was entitled, “If I had a Penny.” Now you know how old I am. There were five kids in my house, and only one parent working for wages. Money was tight. I… Continue reading Best Music Lessons Ever
Worst Chaperone Ever
After two years of teaching high school Spanish in Ashland, Nebraska, I wanted to do for my students what my high school teacher had done for me – take them to Mexico. This wasn’t a trip over the border to Tijuana. This was a ten-day trip to Mexico City, including Aztec ruins. I recruited four… Continue reading Worst Chaperone Ever
Memphis Sugar Mama
After Robert’s family came to America, Robert went to college in Memphis. He met an older woman, Devin, in a liquor store. She had on a mink jacket and asked him out right there amongst the bottles of high-end scotches. She looked good for her age. She drove a Cadillac since her daddy had the… Continue reading Memphis Sugar Mama
Worst Moment of Fame Ever
My oldest child was almost twelve when Michael, the local book store owner, hand-sold me a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. “Trust me. It’s going to be huge!” he said. I looked at the thick book and wondered if my daughter would really get through it. But she was my reader, so… Continue reading Worst Moment of Fame Ever
Not Music to her Ears
Suzy met a musician online. Mel was nice, a little shorter than she, and had a ponytail. He was in four bands as a pianist and drummer. He lived in Berkeley, and she lived in Orinda. They set up a meet and greet at the coffee shop. He tried to impress her with his noisy… Continue reading Not Music to her Ears
Worst Customers Ever
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
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 