Free at last! Free at Last!

Well, I got a call late last night before work. I was fixing my lunch and had just finished ironing my khaki pants.  It was Mrs. Florene.  They had just arrived home from Atmore.  It was a long day she said fraught with worry and anticipation – a nerve wracking process that I was somewhat relieved that I didn’t have to experience.  It was the first time she had seen George in months.

“So, what’s the news?” I asked excitedly and with great trepidation.  I had been waiting all day.  I had trouble sleeping for worrying myself.  I am just exhausted tonight at work.

“George got parole!” Mrs. Florene exclaimed, almost starting to cry.

According to Mrs. Florene, George is to be transported to a county jail today to be fitted with an ankle alcohol monitoring device which he will have to wear for six months and to be set up with his parole officer, and then he will be set free on his own recognizance.  Monte and Mrs. Florene are going to drive to Lafayette to pick him up late this afternoon.

I know George, and the first thing he will want is a Swisher’s Sweet cigar.  He will also want his favorite meal cooked by his mother.  I can’t imagine being locked up so long and the elation he must feel at getting out.  It is going to be a long day today until they set him free. 

George is going to be thrown into the fray upon arriving home.  He starts work bright and early Monday morning.  I talked to my old supervisor last night on the phone before I left for work to give her the good news.  She needs him now and needs him badly – the part-time guy almost ready to quit who is working my old job.  I hope George doesn’t let me down.  I really went out on a limb with getting him my old position.

I can’t express the joy I am feeling right now in words on this blog.  We all here in the Valley have been waiting a long time for this moment.  It will be the first time I have seen George in going on a year it seems.  I am going to give him a big hug much to his chagrin and bring him a pack of his most favorite expensive cigars!

Busy Night at Work…

I clocked in at 10:50pm and immediately put on my smock.  It had been a busy day in electronics and all the shelves and displays were a mess much to my dismay.  I started to get to work getting everything neat and organized again.  I’ve also had a lot of stocking to do tonight and just have caught up. 

Jim stopped by as usual foregoing the registers upfront for my quiet little corner of Walmart.  He always buys the same deli sandwich and an orange juice. We got in a heated discussion over the burning of the Qur'an.  He felt it was in that crazy preacher’s first amendment rights to burn the holy text of Muslims.  I thought it was religious bigotry and the same small minded idiocy that blacks faced during the civil rights movement in the sixties. We just chose to disagree and I thought a black man would have a more open mind about such matters after the opposition blacks faced with integration in the South. I was surprised when Jim said Islam was a religion of violence.  I guess he has never read the Old Testament.

After about three, I could rest and relax some at work – my time to goof off.  The New Zealanders were busy on twitter posting lots of vapid stuff which Twitter is renowned for.  I also spent some time playing some Wii games at our Wii display.  I own a Wii, but would never pay $50 dollars for a game for which I maybe will only play a few times at most.  I am just not interested in video games these days to the point I would buy them.  I am mainly intrigued with the popular culture and fervor which surround these games lately – a multi-billion dollar industry.  We sell a lot of games and game systems at work – people, often adults, spending hundreds of dollars at a time on this stuff.

Well, it is after 5am and the early morning grocery crowd is already arriving.  I can hear the beep of the point of sales up front as items are being rung up.  Soon, a few will meander into my department and I will have to put on my working persona and greet the customers.  “How can I help you this morning?” I will say with my most earnest smile.