I remember how I felt when I found her on the top shelf of the closet in our guest bedroom. It was a wonderful sense of accomplishment immediately followed by overwhelming regret. It was the first and last time I was successful at snooping for hidden Christmas presents. Once I found her, I realized what a mistake I had made. I now had to keep my discovery a secret for the coming weeks, and would have to fake my excitement on Christmas morning when I opened what would be my “big” present that year. I never searched for hidden presents again.
I named her Debbie because of her resemblance to me, in the self-centered manner expected from an 8 year old. She was a high quality doll, the fanciest one I owned throughout my childhood. I outgrew her eventually, and she spent some years stored in the basement. I was 15 when my parents divorced and the contents of our house went different directions. I took with me a box of memorabilia from when I was a kid: my pencil collection, a dollar bill signed my a Washington Redskins player I once met, the leg brace I wore when I tore a few ligaments in my knee that was signed by my friends, and Debbie. Continue reading
Your supervisor doesn’t expect you to have all the answers – that’s why you’re interning. Spend more time soaking up as much information as you can and less trying to impress everyone in the office.
The first time I passed it, I thought it was abandoned. I thought it was just another old building that was left to slowly decay along one of the narrow country roads in Cumming. It certainly didn’t look like an operating business. The rusted roof, unpainted plywood walls, giant potholes in the parking lot – they all supported my assumption. The peeling, barely-readable white letters stenciled onto the side of the building seemed almost laughable: “FRESH BISCUITS 5:30 – 11AM.” I figured it had been a long time since any biscuits had been served.
rhymes with bacon 