Stories. Enjoy!

  • Start Here

    New to Five Minute Observations? Welcome. I’m Joe Class III, and I write stories and essays about what I notice, the encounters that reveal something true, and the moments that stick with you after they’re gone. If you’re just getting started, these three pieces will give you a sense of what this space is about:…

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  • The Harrow Club

    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…

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  • Emulsion Plastics CEO

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

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  • Continuation of RDF Plastics.

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  • RDF Plastics

    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…

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  • Exhausted

    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…

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  • Customer Service

    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…

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  • Leading Others

    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…

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  • Mysterious Encounters

    “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…

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  • Invest In People

    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…

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  • What Do You Do?

    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…

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