Five Minute Observations

Author: Joe Class III

  • Janice’s Pancakes

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in ,

    Waking up early was never a problem for Floyd. He’d been waking up before 4 A.M. since he was twenty. He greeted the morning with a cup of black coffee, stopping chores just long enough to appreciate the simplicity of his life. Work. Eat. Sleep. Nothing complicated about it. Doc asked him at Janice’s Diner…

  • Janice’s Diner

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in ,

    “Janice, I cannot believe you can cook all this good food and still have time to chew the fat. How is that, anyway?” Pastor Theodore finished the last of his food, his third plate. Every Saturday morning, he came into the diner and ate. Always the same food. Bacon. Pancakes. Sausage. Crispy brown toast. Hash…

  • U.S. Bankcorp Tower

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in ,

    “Growing up in a small town farming community? It gives you a different outlook on life, family, hell, everything.” “Save it, Penrose. This ain’t Iowa, and it ain’t Middle America. And you, kid? You got mail to deliver, son.” James Penrose worked in a mid-level business office for one of the many Fortune 500 companies…

  • Prescott and Murray

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in ,

    “Because. It’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said to me, that’s why.” Detective Prescott slid into the unmarked black Cadillac Escalade. The SUV still had that new car smell. “Sometimes I cannot believe you ever made it through the academy.” “Why is that, Prescott? Because I could kick your butt on the range?” The…

  • The Harrow Club (cont.)

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in ,

    Six minutes later . . . “Good afternoon, Mr. Barton.” “Good afternoon, Jasper.” “Right this way, sir.” Jasper led him through the dining room, seating him very close to James Penrose and two other business partners. Jim didn’t recognize the other two men. Based on their attire, he assumed they were angel investors looking to…

  • The Harrow Club

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in ,

    Jasper spent more hours at the Harrow Club than some of the club’s guests. As the maître d’, he knew how to attend to all the staff and the club’s patrons. He was gifted with an uncanny ability to understand what someone needed before they asked. His mother, a prim and proper servant of the…

  • Emulsion Plastics CEO

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in ,

    James Penrose, CEO of Emulsion Plastics leads his company into a new year of growth and affluence.

  • RDF Plastics – Cujo and the Man

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in ,

    Continuation of RDF Plastics.

  • RDF Plastics

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    Looking into the mirror, he saw the reflection staring back at him and thought about saying the infamous line, what are you looking at. Instead, he chose to smile at the audacity of that particular thought. “You’re being ridiculous. Everything is going to be fine. Smile. Nod. Shake hands and walk out. That’s all you…

  • Exhausted

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    I’m exhausted. I am so tired of listening to leaders who do nothing more than talk about change. It needs to happen, they say. We need to do better. We need better communication. Let’s hire better people. We will make time for our teams. We promise a salary increase is coming. Then, after six interviews…

  • Customer Service

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    Chewing the inside of her lip wasn’t helping. Not with the couple in front of her screaming at each other about their financial position. “YOU! THAT’S THE REASON WE ARE IN THAT STUPID HOUSE!” she screamed. “And now?! Now, you want to move us over halfway across the country. Are you crazy, I’m just now…

  • Leading Others

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    Knowledge, skills, and abilities. Human resource professionals look for these three attributes in potential candidates for positions within their company or organization. You can teach the right person knowledge. Giving them more than adequate information to finish a task will be enough. Skills are practiced behaviors, like knowledge, learned over time. Both of these attributes…

  • Mysterious Encounters

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    “No, Geri.” Brenda put her fork down, tines hanging off the edge of the plate. “Not again. Last time, you wanted me to believe in these little creatures that would multiply if you got them wet. Then there was that time when you thought the mafia bought the abandoned house across the street from you…

  • Invest In People

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    Working in customer service, retail, and sales gives you a unique perspective, seeing how working-class people interact with the general public and the public interacts with the staff. The hard part is figuring out what will motivate your staff to stick it out and stay with you and not simply go to work, get their…

  • What Do You Do?

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    When confronted with this question, how do you respond? Do you say I’m a custodian? Or are you an industrial arts technician? Or do you work at Popeye’s, McDonald’s, or Wendy’s? Maybe you are an assembly line worker punching a time clock. Perhaps you work as a roofer, but you dream of being a published…

  • Mrs. Franklin’s Fourth Graders

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    “Do you dream in color? Or black and white?” Kenny asked Steve, looking from the edge of the Breckenmeyer Bridge. Both boys threw rocks and anything else they could find into the river below. The bridge spanned roughly a quarter mile and allowed one car at a time. But that was long before either boy…

  • It’s About Time

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    “It’s about time,” Molly uttered under her breath. Waiting for a few minutes? That was to be expected. But for over an hour, Molly’s best friend, Shannen, to do her hair and makeup was a little more than patience; that was ridiculous! “Sheesh. What all were you doing, anyway? I’ve been waiting down here for…

  • “Who’s in Charge?”

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    “Who’s in charge? You or me?” That’s the kind of supercharged sentiment that separates micromanagers from leaders. It’s the difference between those who lead by fear instead of inspiring others. Leaders who challenge their people move in the same direction. Together, their team is unified against the odds. That’s a leader who will lead, being…

  • One Day in the Cafe

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in

    “It’s not that big of a deal,” she said. “I mean, I really. I didn’t. No, I didn’t really want coffee. Not really, anyway.” Ten seconds earlier, she held a precariously balanced iced vanilla latte between her philosophy textbook, a day planner, and a hand-me-down iPhone 13 from her grandmother. Unlike other twenty-somethings, she refused…

  • Jim’s Cow

    —

    by

    Joe Class III
    in ,

    “Do I need to quarantine her?” Jim took one last drag from his cigarette, crushing it under his boot heel. “She’s been like this for two days, right, Hank?” Hank was standing to Jim’s left side, turning out his lip, scrubbing his gums of the loose tobacco, and spitting out the last bits of tobacco…