Charlie

I go to McDonalds in the morning as part of my pre work routine. Sometimes I just run in and out with a Diet Coke. Lately, I go in and sit with my a Diet Coke and read my Bible.

Today, I saw the cashier from Walgreens eating an Egg McMuffin and drinking coffee. Hum, I thought, I wonder…

I have a character in Sweet Caroline who worked up to his dying day at the age of eighty. Now I know there are plenty of active, healthy eighty year olds, but I doubted how many could or would work forty hours or more a week.

Then, I met Charlie. The Walgreens cashier.

I approached him. “Can I ask you a question?”

He nods.

“How old are you?”

“Eighty-five.”

I smile. “Very cool.”

Charlie has worked all his life. To this day, he works forty hours a week. Served in Europe during WW2.

Perhaps he might be a friend of my character, Jones McDermott.