If a customer wants a discount badly enough, s/he can get it. A lady came in and said haughtily, “I always get 10% senior citizen discount.” The store didn’t have a senior citizen discount, and I explained this, but I gave her a discount anyway to keep her from complaining more. My store also gaveContinue reading “5 Things I Learned, Working Retail”
Author Archives: Princess Manners
A memoir?
I sit here with a glass of oaky white wine, kind of cheap stuff, combobulating the idea.
The line
You have to understand something about New York. It’s a city where absolutely everyone is looking for any and every break they can get. There’s a shifting line of what’s up and what’s down. It’s a cold-hearted thing, as those on the bottom claw their way up, and those on the top whimper as theyContinue reading “The line”
The hole
There are large swaths of my life that I don’t understand: Why I went where I did, tried to be a good girl, rebelled, failed, left home, returned, any of it. And I think it’s because I never really understood my mother. I can tell you that, for example, I never smoked, solely because myContinue reading “The hole”
TMS/TMI
I’ve been depressed to various degrees for over 20 years. Have taken many medications. The doctor now recommends TMS. The doctor says “If you would, just try to open your mind.” That, of course, is exactly what I’m afraid of (like ECT). TMS is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. They put an electromagnet on the outside ofContinue reading “TMS/TMI”
Finish With A Red Lip
My mother was the queen bee of the family. The one who wore the lipstick. Ours is a family who doesn’t smoke, drink, curse, or otherwise wear cosmetics. Who only wears their wedding rings or crosses as jewelry. A family who are elders of their church. Once, my cousin got me to put on Mom’sContinue reading “Finish With A Red Lip”
Snowing Buddha
On this particular day, the cat had her first venture in the snow. Here’s the photo. Then, we looked across the yard and saw this. It was just so pretty.
Plumeria
At 4:00 a.m. in the parking lot of a Milan hotel, my friend Max asked, “Do you want to do this?” I wasn’t sure what he meant. Have breakfast? Date? I was very tired from our night out with his friends. But he kissed me, and then I knew what he meant. “How?” I asked.Continue reading “Plumeria”
The Cow Painting
Picture, if you will, two young lovers trying to wedge a large painting into the trunk of a Mazda Miata in Key West. I had to have that painting, and would stop at nothing to get it. Nevermind that it didn’t fit in the car; forget that there would be difficulty flying it back toContinue reading “The Cow Painting”
The Free Man
Dad was the son of a small town grocer and a woman with pretensions. His was born in the tail end of the Depression. Inspired by a man about town, he went to chiropractic school and opened a practice in another small town. At the time, I was a small child and Mom, another womanContinue reading “The Free Man”
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