Write a journal passage from the viewpoint of one of the characters in the story, "All the Years of Her Life." – Sam, Alfred, Mrs. Higgins. What don’t we know about
your character? What do they value? What is the reasoning behind their actions?
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Tuesday, January 8, 2013
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My son got caught stealing from his job. I don't know what I am going to do with him. He cannot find a job and stick with it. I had to go in my pajamas to talk to his boss about his shoplifting. I was finishing a hard day. My husband is always working and my youngest daughter constantly speaks of getting married. Stress has been thrust upon me day after day. I barely see my husband, my young daughter is getting married and now this. I already have plenty of problems. I have learned that yelling does not solve my problems. I have had so many issues that I have run out of steam and am not able to yell anymore. I realized that all I could do to get Albert's boss, Mr. Carr, to let him go was to calmly talk to him. I am slowly growing old and this stress is slowly killing me. I cannot take it anymore. I try to stay calm, but with all of Albert's shenanigans, I cannot live like this anymore. I just heard my husband come home. I better put this away so he has no idea that Albert was in trouble again. I cannot handle anymore yelling. He's coming upstairs... I'll continue this later.
ReplyDelete-Mrs. Higgins
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ReplyDeleteOh dear, my boy got in trouble again. He always gets in trouble, and at the worst times also. I feel that I am becoming more and more bogged down as time goes by. My only daughter, as foolish as my boy, just got married off before she can even vote! Why has fate been so cruel to me? I feel like I have aged 100 years just this year. However, I can’t afford to lose him, he is my only child left after my three other children were married off. I had to think of a way to resolve the situation. I decided to try to convince the storeowner to be lenient on my son. I had to act calm and polite though, or else the storeowner would have felt obliged to take actions, and thank heavens that he did not call the police! I am weak now, and I cannot protect my son any further than I already have. From now on, my son must learn to fend for himself.
Delete'This is the last time that punk Alfred Higgins gets away with anything in my store,' thought Sam Carr as he talked on the phone with the brat's mother. He could tell by her tone of voice that this wasn't the first time something of this nature had occurred. Each word she spoke only made her seem more worried. 'I'll be doing a favor for all of the employers, everywhere, by sending Alfred to where he belongs!' He searched the dark street for a cop to seal the deal. All Sam Carr could think about was how this time would be different. No longer would he be played the fool! He had been tricked one too many times, only noticing missing goods once an employee had resigned. Seven months ago, before Alfred had started working at the drugstore, his star employee, who just happened to oversee the goods, stole thousands of dollars of pills, syrups, and more. When Sam finally looked at all of the reports, it was too late. The man has not been seen since then.
ReplyDeleteFinally, Mrs. Higgins came in, looking frazzled in every aspect except her determined, smiling face. This set Sam aback; however, he kept his calm demeanor. He then hastily explained the situation, leaving out the harsh words he had intended to use to break Alfred's mother. She shot back cool, calm, and collected responses about Sam's intentions. This really got Sam. Was this woman really trusting him with the story? Did she have faith that he would deliver the correct punishment--a punishment that would surpass that of a mother who has known the boy his entire life? He told her that he intended on notifying the cops, but his heart wasn't in it anymore. He didn't want to send someone away. He didn't want to ruin the young boy's life. He didn't want to let this strong woman down. He believed she could set the boy straight. And that meant less work for Sam Carr! She really did know best after all... Sam Carr quickly found it in his heart to take Mrs. Higgin's advice that she would guide him and that Alfred should be pardoned of any future charges. When the mother and her son left, Sam locked up knowing that he may have actually helped someone this time. He had gotten to Alfred first, and by not punishing them and not acting with vengeance like his usual self, he swelled with pride. He'd done well.
What have I done. I’ve embarrassed my mother again. I don’t know what I can do anymore. Nothing ever seems to work out. I always seem to mess up somehow. I can’t stand to look at her face. It’s looks sad, broken, and fearful of my future. I know she does what she does because she cares about me and yet, I test the trust that she has in me. She was so calm and collected back at the store, but now she looks old and feeble. Have I caused this? Was I the last straw? I wonder if my sister hadn’t gone off and gotten married if my mother would still treat me as a child. At this point, I don’t blame her. I’ve made too many mistakes. I have to make it up to her somehow. Maybe I could find a new job, one that she loved. Maybe I could buy her gifts. Maybe, I could even save my money, spend less time going out with friends, and spending more time working on my schoolwork. I don’t know, but I must do something to prove to her that I’m mature and that I know that I can make smart decisions. It’s getting late, I better get some rest. I’m going to have a busy day tomorrow if I’m going to search for a new job. I guess I’ll pick this up later.
ReplyDeleteI finally fired that boy. He smelled faintly of syrup and I could see the guilt traced in every single clogged pore protruding from his sickly pale face. He kept patting his pockets as if to feel for something, some phantom limb, and that's how I knew. I knew why the inventory had been a few items off at least once a week since he started working 6 months ago. I watched him closely today, always keeping a keen eye on the kid. I watched as a small bulge formed in his coat pocket in correlation to the rising number of empty spots in the displays. I only acted when I knew for sure. I certainly didn't want to fire him, he's just a foolish boy who lacks the whits to elude discovery, I just couldn't let him set an example for my other employees. I mean I can afford to lose a few cheap items once a week, but if everyone who I employ followed suit... or worse yet, the customers as well... well... let's just say my business wouldn't last too long. What he needed was a good ol' fashioned scare, like the ones Mr. Brown used to pull on us kids when we forgot our homework at home. I called his mom. I told him I was keeping an eye out for a cop just so he wouldn't try anything foolish. I gave his mother a warning to keep her son in check and she seemed to understand completely. She actually seemed like a lovely woman; one who could raise a son better than the one I met. Maybe he's just a fluke. I fired him quick, and then let them go. I just couldn't bare to hurt a woman like that; there are so few of them left these days.
ReplyDeleteIt was only around three in the afternoon when I noticed it. It was a dead day in our drugstore, and only a few customers had come through all day. I mostly stayed in the back and relaxed while I waited for customers and Alfred manned the store. I commanded Alfred to restock shelves, clean the floors, and other labor to do until a customer walked through the store on this bright and shiny day. When I decided to check the cash register for about the 50th time that day, I noticed something different in the store. Something different than the usual supplied shelves and clean floors. Something different than Alfred doing his job. I noticed Alfred, strolling casually through the aisles, carefully selecting lipstick, toothpaste, and a compact to put in his baggy jeans pocket. I was astonished, embarrassed that I hadn't notice this crime committed in the six months that Alfred had been working here. I knew I couldn't confront him in the middle of a business day, so I decided to talk to him about the incident at the end of our shift. I felt I couldn't watch anymore, so I slipped back in to the back room and waited patiently for the day to end.
ReplyDeleteToday I went in to work at our local drugstore, it was a pretty normal day except for its ending. IT started with getting up and hauling myself down there to work and deal with my boss, Sam Carr. Right before I left Sam brought me into his office, thoughts started racing though my mind. "Had I received a raise?", "Has Sam finally caught onto my ways?", "Is he going to let me get away with it because he sort of likes me?" I prepared to defend myself against the truth, loading up a speech, denying my stealing, and thinking through my words and thoughts carefully. My bluff was effortlessly sideswiped. Being told to empty my pockets, I was caught cashing in on a five finger discount. Honestly the only thing I saw that could be seriously bad was if Sam decided to get the police involved. This wouldn't be my first time being fired, so it didn't hurt to bad, I was just glad that the police didn't get involved. When my mom came to the drugstore to save her baby she was oddly chipper and was able to convince Sam to just fire me and have no further consequences.
ReplyDeleteMy mother's attitude was completely opposite on the walk back to our house, she seemed disappointed and furious. Conversation was not an option, yet residing back into my room was. Deciding to go back down stairs I saw my mom trembling, weak, and seemingly vulnerable. She was stressed beyond belief, and I only added to her problems. It was time that I began taking work seriously and help out my family.
-Jackson Harris
First my daughter who was the hope of the family goes off and marries that nothing Mike who has a “light” drinking problem and “sometimes can be ruff”. She wasn’t enough though, Alfred has to go off and commit petty crimes and stress his father and I. Alfred made a serious mistake with losing his last chance job and angering the only man who has ever liked him, because his father sure never has. I’m so sick of his attitude and mistakes that I want to kick him out and admit defeat, but Alfred is all I have left in this world. He deserved the chance I gave him by talking the store owner into not having him arrested, but that is the last favor I owe him. From now on Alfred will have to learn his lessons for himself, no more bailouts, no more favors, and I’m close to saying no more love. I wish him the best with life and hope his luck will finally kick in.
ReplyDeleteEven as I grow older I still remember the day I became a man. Thats right, the day. I have heard from books, movies and other such aqauntinces that the process was different for them, it was slower and needed to take more time. Just so we’re clear, I do not doubt the validity of their arguments. Indeed I have witnessed various stages of this process through the faces of the boys and mother’s children who pass through my shop. Looking at them was looking into the face of a half formed thing that sometimes only showed the barest hint of what it was destined to be. Sometimes when I look, I reflect on how different I was. Believe me I remember the phases, I remember what these boys go through as I did go through it myself, but I was blessed. For me this transformation came after merely one day. The day I became a man was one I will remember forever, it the day of my high school graduation. That morning my father kicked my ass out onto the street with my few meager belongings, I went to the ceremony and no sooner had I taken off my dress robes I put on the white coat of the cashiers at my families drug store. It was a Friday, so I collected my check after 8 o’clock and, for the first time, truly went forth into the world to find a hotel to stay that night. Some may look at my father and say it was a harsh dismissal, but it taught me the values of responsibility. It taught me to be a man.
ReplyDeleteWhen Albert came to my store, with shoulders slouched and pocked faced, I could see he was still a typical half formed ameba of a boy. He was caught in the midst of his transformation with only the barest hint of his true potential peaking from under the surface. I saw it though, and I thought, Sam, you should give this boy a chance. I believed that when he finished the metamorphosis he was in, he would emerge as a great man. I honestly wondered the store would help him reach his destiny, like it did for me. That was why I gave him a job.
Even after the second week when I saw him pocketing lipstick and other small items I said nothing. At first I thought this was merely a small, unhappy side effect of being in his half finished form. I thought it was a phase. As he became more reckless and daring with his heist, my sympathy proportionally diminished. I saw that he was truly stuck in this ugly unfinished shape. That the potential I saw in him that first day was dying and his soul was rotting from the gangrene. That bastard thought he could steal from me without my notice! Maybe he thought I was an old fool he could pull one over eh?! Eventually I confronted him as a man should. There was no shouting, or insults. Only cold, righteous anger on my part, and guilty fear on his. His mother came and convinced me to not call the police. After a long polite discussion, a discussion worthy of adults, I agreed. Mind you, I only agreed because even though Alfred is a grown child, a child is still a child. A child doesn’t realized the concept of consequences. Prison is no place for children. I watched the pair walking away I began to feel great pity. Not for Alfred. Alfred showed no remorse over the wrong he’d done, only a faint kind of awe that his mother had gotten him out of this one. I felt pity for his mother. The woman hid her grief well, but as a father of two children I knew the worries that plaugued her. I knew the helpless rage that bit her heart. I could see the pain of her failure almost bouncing with joy beside her as she walked home.
I feel horrible. I can’t believe I got caught stealing again. All I want to do is help my family. Ever since Father got demoted and had to work the night shift, money is tight. It doesn’t help that Sister ran off with nearly half of our savings to elope. Mother has insisted that the family doesn’t need help, but I know better. Sam Carr paid far too little for me to make anything of value. I had to steal. I had to. For my family. Now I really can't tell Mother the truth. She was upset enough that I was stealing. I can’t imagine what would happen if I said I was stealing for her. She’s already upset. I’ve never seen Mother look this way. She seems so forlorn. I know I shouldn’t be taking things, but I know my family needs the money. I’m doing the right thing. Really, I am.
ReplyDeleteFiring Alfred was the least I could have done. I shouldn't of had to call Mrs. Higgins in the first place, the boy is pretty much a grown man and should be able to take the responsibilities of being a man. If I were Mrs. Higgins, I'd just kick the boy out of the house and have nothing to do with him. Alfred must thank god for a lovely and polite mother. Without his mother, Alfred would be sitting behind bars by now serving time for his crime. Just when I'm beginning to trust him with the store, this happens. I'm sure if Alfred had asked for the items politely, I would have given it to him at no cost. But what bothers me the most is the boy's dishonesty. Even though he finally gave up my store items, he still tried to lie about the how long he had been shoplifting in my store. What was he thinking! Did he not know that I kept an inventory on all of my store items? Instead of coming clean, he dug a deeper hole for himself by lying. I hope this is the first and last time Alfred does anything like this anywhere. He is not going to get anywhere in life with that attitude towards stealing. Until Alfred gets his act together, that boy is nothing but trouble, and I'd hate to be the parent that is always having to pick up after their grown child's mess.
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe it took me so long to realize what that boy had been up to. He’s been stealing from my store for who knows how long and it was only today that I figured it out. The strange part about the situation was the boy’s mother. I expected her to come in furious or crying, but remained calm and composed the entire time. It still puzzles me, but there was something about Mrs. Higgins that got me. If I were in Alfred’s place, my own mother would have been visibly upset. In fact most mothers would be. I found Mrs. Higgins’ composure very peculiar. She was strong, yet I could tell there was something more going on. I don’t know anything about the Higgins family, but as the mother was talking to me, I decided to let her handle it. If she was strong enough to handle the situation so calmly, I’m sure Alfred will get something out of the night. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was about Mrs. Higgins. She made me feel so good about not calling the police and just letting the boy go. Maybe I got scammed. Maybe I just wanted to feel like a good person by doing them a favor so I talked myself into it. Whatever the case, what’s done is done. I suppose I should start looking to hire someone to replace the boy.
ReplyDeleteWhat am I going to do with this boy? How many more times will he get in trouble before he learns? I just don't get it anymore. Can he not see just how much getting him out of these situations wears on me. I did put on a very calm face this evening if I do say so myself. And thank goodness I did because if that Sam Carr guy had called the police ... I don't even want to things about that. I'm just so glad I could defuse this time bomb fast enough so Alfred didn't have to deal with his father. I know what Alfred did was wrong but he is still my baby. At least the only one still at home. I hope Alfred learns his lesson sooner rather then later.
ReplyDeleteIt is so hard to live up to the expectations of my parents. All my siblings have grown up and started families of there own, but I have been left behind. It seems that all I do these days is burden my parents. I tried to do well. I stopped asking them for money to go out with the boys, and I got a steady job down at Mr. Carr's drugstore. I had been here for about six months now, but I was never content with the minimum wage salary that I received. I made the conscious decision to stop settling for the small wage and started to steal some things from the store and would sell them to make a little extra cash. However, just like everything in my life, it caught up to me. Mr. Carr caught me red-handed with a blue compact, two tubes of toothpaste and a lipstick. Mr. Carr called my mom and she was even more disappointed in me than she has been in the past. Luckily, mama used some of her sweet talking skills to keep me out of jail, but I need to work hard to repay her for all of her sacrifices.
ReplyDelete-Daniel S.
It's a curious thing, the capabilities of our own body and mind. While the heart may feel fear, terror, the mind has the capability to take over the body and do what is necessary. My son, nearly arrested today, stole from his employer today. The calls have come before, and time and time again I've had to hurry to his side, mistake after mistake. Preluding the encounter with the police, or whoever has caught him, my mind is always flustered, and can't imagine what I might do. Even so, today I marched into the drugstore, half dressed but masked with a calm and curious countenance. All the correct words seem to flow right out, and approaching the employer in a calm and respectful manner allowed Sam Carr to feel sympathy for the parent that only tried her hardest. It wasn't a ruse, but a reasonable way to handle the solution. It wasn't until we had left the store that the fear, terror of the experience instilled. And the whole of the real predicament suddenly dawned on me. How could I motivate my child to be better, to do better?
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