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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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“You what?” “Let me say it again. I gave up.” “Gave up what, exactly, Stan?” “Everything.” I was puzzled by what Stan said to me. For the last two years, I watched Stan go through some of the hardest things I’ve seen one person deal with. The emotional trauma alone was enough to make me…
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Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri. It’s a quiet, quaint small town with big city aspirations. One thing not lacking in Cape. Restaurants. Cape’s got a little bit of everything. From fast food joints like Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell to a few that are more nuanced, like Qdoba, Chick-fil-A, and Culvers. Then you have…
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For a spring day, it wasn’t that cold. The SEMO sweatshirt I was wearing kept me comfortable enough. Not too hot. Not too cold. Not just right. Adequate is more like it, but I could’ve cared less. Coming from an English class where the students thought they knew more than the instructor was scary.…
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Thinking to myself, I wondered what it would be like. “Josh, I’m starting to think you might be a little bit, you know? Woohoo.” Travis put his finger to his temple and spun it in a circle, the universal sign of being insane. “That’s a little too out there.” “Why? Like you’ve never thought about…
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“299.” “How do you know that?” Standing over the spilled various colored Skittles, a young girl asked. Blonde. Tightly braided pigtails trailed down her shoulders, tied in bows with a bright red ribbon. Her bib overalls were a little too big, the cuffs falling over her well-worn Chuck Taylors. On the front of the bib…
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“Gerry! Hey Gerry! Can you hear me?” “Hmm?” Pulling off the Bose headphones, the young blonde stared straight ahead without blinking, waiting for her boss to say something. Instead of answering, she waited, knowing full well anything other than a correct response would warrant a severe tongue-lashing. “Gerry, didn’t we submit the billing for Harris…
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“What happened to Jennifer and Sarah? I thought they were friends.” After eating a light lunch at Pete’s Diner, Francis and Martha sipped their espressos. Both women were friends from the local Southern Baptist church, lifelong followers of Jesus, and very stuck in what they would say is their views of Christianity, regardless of how…
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Good idea. Bad idea. I think the first time I heard that was in the early 90s with the creation of Tiny Toons, Steven Spielberg’s animated cartoon. It was an animated bit that didn’t include any iconic Warner Brothers characters, like Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck. That’s what made it unique. It featured a skull…
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All I wanted to do was get a cup of coffee. In line and talking to the woman standing in front of me was the least of my concerns. As an on-air talent for a radio station, it’s not abnormal for fans to catch me somewhere and want to chat. And most of the time,…
Stories. Enjoy!
