Spring 1916

The photo at left made me want to tell a story:

At dawn, in the narrow, damp confines of the trench, they waited. Some crouched on the fire step, some stood erect on the duckboards with one leg propped, leaning forward on their thighs. Others sat—or lay—in crumpled heaps. Some smoked, some scribbled hastily in grimy notebooks; one man cleaned his fingernails with a pocketknife. The lieutenant stared at his watch, a whistle clutched in his right hand.

Mud-caked, mud crusted, they waited there, with damp crotches and wet feet, stealing furtive glances at each other. At last, the lieutenant tensed, put whistle to lips…

The men nearest the lieutenant saw this, and rose if they were sitting. Like commuters on a train as it nears its destination, a wave of preparation rippled down the trench. Men gathered rifles, helmets, cleared throats, patted pockets.

The whistle blew.

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Bootstraps

At work, I often see people on the edges of society-- homeless, alcoholic, drug addicted, mentally ill, you get the idea. they frequently smell bad, look odd, act strange; these are people you'd ordinarily avoid. Sometimes I wonder, though: what if you woke up one morning as one of them? I mean that literally-- what if you woke up and found you had somehow changed places with one of them?

Now think about this: how long would it take you to get back to where you are right now? I mean all the way from "step 1: take a shower" to "step 10, 978: finish college, get job"? I don't know why I do this, but it's like a mental exercise. As far as these people have fallen, is it possible to climb back? Sometimes I really get into this, like "ok, so I need to get clean, I can go to the Salvation Army, then I need to find a job.......day labor? MacDonald's? Can I eventually get an apartment? Can I prove I finished high school or do I need to start working on a GED?

I figure it would take about fifteen years to go from random unfortunate homeless person to college grad. I know, I know: I need to get a life.

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