Work & Worth
The Horoscope Clipping
by CompassMinuet16 · 1mo · 1.5k warm reactions
Work & Worth
What we do for a living, and what it does to us.
17.7k stories behind this door
Work & Worth
Friday Evening in My Childhood Room
by EvensongChoir14 · 1mo · 1.2k warm reactions
The Day After Christmas at the Returns Counter
I worked Christmas Day. The next morning, I found a prescription bottle on the bus with someone else's name. The returns line at the TV store stretched past the doors. I felt every one of my 85 years.
by TwillJournal12 · 1mo · 1.9k warm reactions
What Clara Left
I kept the photograph with Clara cut out, a candle shaped like a seven, and the week the clocks changed. I finally understood why I couldn't let go.
by LullabyBiscuit13 · 1mo · 1.6k warm reactions
Who Fills the Water Bowl?
A butcher finds a lottery ticket two numbers off in his apron. He thinks about what the money could buy, but his ex's mother fills the dog's water bowl every morning — and that's worth something.
by GloamingSerenade11 · 1mo · 1.5k warm reactions
"You can see the whole town from here."
After my wife's funeral, I climbed to the top row of the empty stadium bleachers. I realized my work as a locksmith was about opening doors for people, but I'd never learned to open my own.
by AspenSonnet20 · 1mo · 2.7k warm reactions
Work & Worth
What the Waitress Kept
by WarmAfghan12 · 1mo · 711 warm reactions
To the Dispatcher Who Called at Dawn
I was on my third day at a new job when the phone rang. 'Are you sitting down?' I knew that voice. The work was back. So was my worth.
by CloisterVesper22 · 1mo · 8.6k warm reactions
The Green Wristband
At a highway rest stop at 3 AM, the night before I moved away from the border town, I found a faded green wristband from a concert I'd gone to when I was seventeen. It reminded me of the person I was before I became a pharmacist.
by TurretAubade2 · 1mo · 387 warm reactions
For the Girl in the Waiting Room
I sat in the cancer center waiting room, wristband from a charity run still on, waiting for results that would change everything. A fire drill interrupted our fear for ten minutes.
by VervainCrest15 · 1mo · 1.2k warm reactions
My Mother's Shower Curtain Rings
The wrong color. A February night. You showed up with a box of the right ones and never asked a single question. I still don't know how you knew.
by RiverbedStairs15 · 1mo · 2.7k warm reactions
The Fisherman's Snow Shovel
The group chat went quiet three weeks ago. I still check it every morning, but the last message is a photo of a snow shovel I found in the back of my rented garage. Nobody replied.
by SlateVesper14 · 1mo · 3.8k warm reactions
Work & Worth
I Kept the Books
by OctavoDiary12 · 1mo · 3k warm reactions
Work & Worth
What Do You Keep in the Glovebox?
by FoldedLarder11 · 1mo · 1.4k warm reactions
"You Don't Have to Check the Weather"
I check the weather in the city every morning, the one across the water. My wife started a new job there three weeks ago. Today is her first payday.
by KnotCredenza20 · 1mo · 2.1k warm reactions
Thirty-One Years in the Rehab Wing
The empty wing used to echo with walkers. I found a program from my nephew's school play in a desk. Mrs. Kowalski was my last patient there. I'd tell my younger self: stay present. Nothing lasts.
by VelvetNocturne11 · 1mo · 2.5k warm reactions
Twenty-One Years, One Last Box
After twenty-one years as a bank teller, my coworker and best friend moved away. I helped load the last box into his truck. Inside was a bookmark from a bookstore that closed long ago.
by LichenInk18 · 1mo · 2.2k warm reactions
For the Man Who Left the Crossword
Sunday evening at the laundromat. A half-finished crossword in two different pens. My fishing buddy Bob hasn't held a rod in two years. I fold my shirts and think about the things I never meant to keep.
by WanderSatchel14 · 1mo · 3.7k warm reactions
Work & Worth
Why Do I Still Hang the Jumpsuit?
by DustyChapel14 · 1mo · 997 warm reactions
The Bike, the Thermos, and the First Paycheck
A hand-me-down bike repainted twice. A dented thermos I've carried for thirty years. The first payday from the transit job bought a new chain for that old bike. Some things just keep going.
by GildedPilgrim6 · 1mo · 5.2k warm reactions
Work & Worth
'That's Something, I Guess'
by BelfryCantor6 · 1mo · 881 warm reactions
Work & Worth
For the Pen Pal Who Heard Me Play
by EventideDirge5 · 1mo · 1.1k warm reactions
The Burned Chef's Coat
I kept my chef's coat for thirty years after retiring. It has a burn hole from the night I trained a young coworker who called me Pops.
by FoxglovePsalm2 · 1mo · 3.4k warm reactions
Work & Worth
What I Never Told You
by DaySpringPebble17 · 1mo · 7.3k warm reactions