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"I could use a man like you" - Fate Fairies - book version
This entry was posted on 12/28/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Fate Fairies:Fate Fairies - book version.
It looks like this foray into fate is about half way through. So, in the spirit of taking a cue from a professor I had at UW-Whitewater, "It's time for review."
The whole premise in my scribbles, in a nutshell, is that I blame some of one's lot in life to a tribe of mythical creatures I call fate fairies. They are responsible for some of the mischief that befalls a person. You know; they are those little creatures that are the minions of what ever deity you bring with you. God is too busy killing off 200,000 people at a crack with earthquakes and tsunamis and the such, to be bothered with lost keys, lost wallets, and broken hearts. He turns over the small shit to his..., "fate fairies." I suspect the ones assigned to me spend excess time smoking pot and staying drunk.
Back in the early 1990s when I worked at the farm store as well as the landscape maintenance company in both Madison and Middleton respectively, we moved into a neat little house on the edge of New Glarus, Wisconsin. It was the summer of 1994. It had a work barn; it also had lots of extra rooms in the house. It was what was left of an old farmstead. The yard was a fright. Farms usually have big yards. No one had taken care of it for years. But, I had my old landscape equipment from when I ran my own business down in Texas. Everyone in the neighborhood seemed glad we moved in. I cleaned up the yard in no time.
While living in that house I had an epiphany. I would work out again. I turned one unused bedroom into a workout room. I had plenty of equipment from years of off and on again athletic activities. At 39 years old, I plodded away at an incremental and easy going work out schedule.
After about a year I had biceps again that looked like small bowling balls. I also had lost 50 pounds. I tell you the privacy and solitude of a good workout area helps. There was a dandy patio window in the old bedroom and I could look out over the picturesque village while I rode my stationary bike and rested between weight lifting sets.
The farm store was on the east side of Madison. I frequently stopped in the giant east-side Woodman's grocery store up the road for soda pop and supplies after work. One evening, I was strolling down an isle and a ruddy faced man about sixty years old stopped his cart and blocked my way. You could tell he was a blue-collar man. His hands were muscular and rough, his face weathered, and he wore a flannel shirt and my guess is, that if he went to church, he wore it there too.
My first instinct was, "Oh no. Is this some kind of nut?" But, I resisted the thought because he just seemed too genuine in his demeanor.
"You got big arms son," he said looking at my arms. He said it rather matter-of-factly. And, not as if he was starting a con of some sort.
"Thanks," I returned. As I tried to pass by him he handed me a business card.
"Son," he said. "I can tell you did not just fall off a turnip truck. And, it looks like you might know a thing or two about how to work smart, and, work hard."
Then he looked me in the eyes with a squint and said, "Mister, you ever need a job, you call the number on the card. I could use a man like you."
"I have a job," I said without much thought. "Two, in fact."
He finally cracked a grudging bit of a smile, nodded and pushed his cart past me.
I never saw him again. But....
I wish the fuck now, I had never lost that goddamned business card over the years.
Note: This blog "Fate Fairies" - book version Category is a work in progress. The original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Fate Fairies Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
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