Michael doesn’t know if Moldovans are pro-Russia or not. He guesses that the older men are Russians and the younger men are Moldovans. You don’t learn much politics in Moldovan orphanages. Michael, now 24, doesn’t speak without being spoken to. Instead of looking for training partners, he spends most of every day silently playing pool … Continue reading
Author Archives: Robert Langellier
And the anger began to ferment
Some trucking companies, or at least this one, intentionally recruit way more people than they have trucks for. All these people in the photo are sitting around, waiting for trainers that don’t exist yet. The company knows the average stay for an over-the-road driver at a company is 4.2 months. They get no commitment so … Continue reading
Tonight I’ll Sleep in Kentucky
Springfield to Champaign. Champaign to St. Louis. St. Louis to Paducah. If you’re not familiar with the Midwest, lemme stress that this route is insane, and it passes through Springfield twice before eventually arriving almost accidentally in Kentucky. But that’s the nature of my life and the Greyhound bus. Tonight I’ll sleep in Murray, KY, … Continue reading
Lost in America Part One
Cassidy Gordon flipped through photos of urns with her mom, trying to figure out which one to bury her in. “What yurn you like, mom? I like this one.” She pointed to a lavishly decorated Egyptian-style urn. “This one’s so cool!” “Hell no. I’m not gettin’ buried in that. That’s stupid.” Cassidy flipped through more … Continue reading
Don’t Act Surprised
It looks like many of you are happy with your jobs and your places! Good! Garrett Richie killing it up in Grand Forks with Kile Brewer. Sky Chadde posting some nice links from Dallas. Ryan Schuessler showing us who the greatest of our peers is in Ferguson. Celia Ampel having a blast in Florida. Yep, … Continue reading
Weed Removal at the Bel-Aire Motel
The parking lot that spreads from the Bel-Aire Motel is covered in weeds. The floor tiles are cracked as well, but the staff hired guys to work on it. Franklin — middle-aged, white, and with a cracked smile and light-brown unibrow — stands out front of his first floor apartment, along with his neighbor Brady and Grace, Brady’s … Continue reading
A Profile is a Dangerous Weapon
Trying to draw someone with words is depraved. The proof is that if you know someone too well, you can’t profile them. I could profile my friend Garrett, but I’d never be wholly satisfied. No matter what I say, I’d know there’s more. Always more. I got the chance to talk to my favorite living profiler, … Continue reading
Parable of the Athlete
“Thank you for seeing me today, doctor,” Mark said. “Not a problem, Mr. Starkley,” Dr. Brewer lifted a page on Mark’s chart. “I saw the game yesterday. Quite a performance.” “Well, you know, the camera adds 10 feet to every home run.” “So what seems to be the problem? You look healthy. Tonight’s a big game. … Continue reading
A Scene of Beauty
I was reading an archived newspaper article about a demonstration of women in St. Louis in 1916, written by a woman. I found its lack of focus on the demonstration of women interesting. I pulled direct quotes out of the article and birthed them into a poem. “A Furious Scene of Beauty” 3000 women in … Continue reading
My God, my lord, my country. Watch your language.
“We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.” –Oscar Wilde, printed under the heading “Americanisms” in BBC’s Style Guide. Saw an interesting thing in The Guardian a couple of weeks ago. In a story about the political/ethnic massacres going on in South Sudan, the British news guys included the following sentences: “The lord is … Continue reading
hi 