Today’s political candidates have rediscovered America’s middle class, at least for the duration of the presidential campaign. That being the status of my upbringing, I reflected on those I have encountered in life and have written, with some license, about someone I knew through my father, an average guy named Joe who worked for the New York subway system. The story is titled, His Soul Was Different.
His Soul Was Different
Joe Bunce never had much success in life, but it wasn’t that he never tried. That he did, but with few good results. Joe always seemed to walk in circles or was following someone else. You could say that though his feet were constantly moving, they were never headed in the direction of success. Aside from that he was friendly, well-liked, and faithful to his friends and family. What more could you ask of an average Joe? Someone once said, “I really like Joe, he always seems to be there. He doesn’t offer much, but you feel comfortable around him. I guess you could say that his soul was different.
Joe, and the rest of our crowd, grew up in a large New York apartment complex. There were many kids our age. You could always depend on someone being in the wading pool, on the swings, in the sandbox, or on the monkey bars to play with. If only one person was there, if would be Joe Bunce, even on rainy days. Always there with a grin on his pudgy and heavily freckled face. He never won at anything. Maybe a few third places in foot races, and in a ball game his line drives were always speared by a fielder robbing him of a hit, and you could always depend on him to make the game’s only error. Read More
His Soul Was Different
Joe Bunce never had much success in life, but it wasn’t that he never tried. That he did, but with few good results. Joe always seemed to walk in circles or was following someone else. You could say that though his feet were constantly moving, they were never headed in the direction of success. Aside from that he was friendly, well-liked, and faithful to his friends and family. What more could you ask of an average Joe? Someone once said, “I really like Joe, he always seems to be there. He doesn’t offer much, but you feel comfortable around him. I guess you could say that his soul was different.
Joe, and the rest of our crowd, grew up in a large New York apartment complex. There were many kids our age. You could always depend on someone being in the wading pool, on the swings, in the sandbox, or on the monkey bars to play with. If only one person was there, if would be Joe Bunce, even on rainy days. Always there with a grin on his pudgy and heavily freckled face. He never won at anything. Maybe a few third places in foot races, and in a ball game his line drives were always speared by a fielder robbing him of a hit, and you could always depend on him to make the game’s only error. Read More