Rumblings of an Empty Stomach

"It wouldn't be so bad to work in Dunkin Donuts," she said as her car headed down Route 132. The hunger in her stomach reminded she that she needed to eat something and she should get it before she got onto the parkway. "I could enjoy that job," she thought. "I wouldn't have to worry about anything once I took care of a customer. If there's a line of customers, I would just serve each one and when there wasn't anyone left, I know I succeeded. Then I would clean up their little messes like spilled sugar on top of the garbage , stirrers lying there with the remnants of a light coffee on the end of them. Push them through the swinging door into the trash."

As the car drove down road in the morning rain, the thought of not getting onto the parkway and changing careers excited her. "I'd work closer to home. That would save me gas. i would wear a uniform. I wouldn't have to worry about what I would wear everyday."

The idea was beginning to form a concrete plan. Never having to work in the school with incompetent people was looking better and better to her. No more paperwork or letters in her file about paperwork. She smiled to herself.

Then she pictured her students from her first class of the day. She really liked them. She enjoyed the easy banter between them and the very funny jokes they made. She liked their care and concern for each other. She would miss watching them grow from immature little ninth graders to hopefully mature, taller seniors.

She arrived at Dunkin' Donuts and walked in. She ordered her tea and a breakfast sandwich of triangle-shaped bread and egg whites. She looked around the place as if she was sizing it up for a decorating job. She looked at the peole behind the counter and tried to picture herself there. As nice as they were, she knew she couldn't do it: apply for a position. She couldn't give up those same faces she saw everyday. Yes, she would see the same faces at this job but she knew at that moment, she needed those kids more than they would ever know.

She took her bag and tea and walked back to her car smiling. She pulled out of the parking area and onto the road. She stayed in the right lane which would lead her onto the entrance to the parkway. As she accelerated to the speed limit, the thoughts of her new career faded away like the scenery she was passing.