“The machine was broken,” I said, looking up at the officer from my seat on the rumbling train, like a busted stowaway. “Can I just buy a ticket from you?”
“It’s too late,” he snapped. “There are many places you can buy. Now it’s more expensive.” A vein popped on his neck as he scribbled my citation in his black gloves.
“What’s going on?” the other officer asked, stomping down the aisle to us.
Continue reading Day at the beachA vehicle struck a pedestrian, who died at the scene.
In other words, a car killed someone.
She was crossing in the crosswalk of a sprawling intersection late at night.
The car’s driver was not wearing a helmet.
No skid marks on the pavement.
And he was texting.
These facts may indicate vehicular manslaughter.
Continue reading Crosswalks in KrakówI had been ordering my groceries online and having them dropped off on my front porch well before the virus hit.
The delivery service made grocery shopping safer and more convenient than the traditional method of driving out and back to the store every week.
What used to take me over an hour now only cost about five minutes and a $10 tip.
Aside from the occasional cracked egg or overripe avocado, they usually fulfilled my order accurately and met my expectations.
Back then food delivery was a valuable service offering I was happy to pay for. But after the virus erupted into a pandemic the authorities took over.
Continue reading The elephant in the egg cartonThis is Part III of my series, Work is Fun. Here is Part I and Part II.
In the winter, the weather outside bled through the office windows, accentuating the filth and decay surrounding us inside.
The drab, hazy grey skies mirrored the blank and fading walls.
Snowflakes fell lightly through naked branches like the gathered dust that tumbled down from the drapes and bookshelves above our desks.
This is Part II of my series, Work is Fun. Here is Part I and Part III.
Morale dipped after a week of working with the drone boss. You wouldn’t have been able to tell at a glance because our faces remained blank as ever.
Our reports, on the other hand, were filled with egregious, unprofessional typographical errors revealing the downtrodden mood wafting across the front lines.
