{"id":533,"date":"2014-12-12T13:28:40","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T21:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/?p=533"},"modified":"2014-12-12T13:28:40","modified_gmt":"2014-12-12T21:28:40","slug":"the-path-to-respect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/?p=533","title":{"rendered":"The Path To Respect"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Path To Respect<\/strong><\/p>\n

I rolled into town late at night<\/p>\n

after hitching a ride with a trucker.<\/p>\n

I said thanks as he pulled out of site.<\/p>\n

The diner was open. I\u2019m in luck here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I stuck my pack under the table.<\/p>\n

I ordered coffee, strong, & a steak.<\/p>\n

The waitress turned the TV on to cable.<\/p>\n

She said \u201d I need it on to stay awake.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNot much business that I can see.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said \u201d It\u2019s slow this late at night.\u201d<\/p>\n

I got up and went to pee.<\/p>\n

I returned and tried my first bite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHow is the steak?\u201d she asked so sweet.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like my mother used to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

She laughed & slid into the seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat brings you here this late?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI hitched a ride with an 18 wheeler.<\/p>\n

Back to my old stomping ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre saying you\u2019re from here in Cleaver?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s long ago since I was around.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSplit in my teens in the dead of night.<\/p>\n

Back then the world owed me a living.<\/p>\n

I headed for those big city lights.<\/p>\n

I starved. The world is unforgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI finally landed a job as a busboy.<\/p>\n

Minimum wage and a share of tips.<\/p>\n

In time I moved up to waiter\/busboy.<\/p>\n

Then, my break came. I was up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fry cook died. I took his job.<\/p>\n

More pay and better hours.<\/p>\n

A place to live. That felt odd.<\/p>\n

I had access to regular showers.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a couple years, I moved on.<\/p>\n

Picked up odd jobs here and there.<\/p>\n

A few months & I would be gone.<\/p>\n

I never stayed long anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI had my share of small town glories<\/p>\n

Life was just a crazy carousel.<\/p>\n

Sometimes\u00a0 I suffered more fleas<\/p>\n

than I would really care to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cLately,\u00a0 I been feeling sorry for myself.<\/p>\n

I needed something to turn my life around.<\/p>\n

Then, one day, It came to me and I felt<\/p>\n

I had to come back to this town.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBack to where the whole thing started.<\/p>\n

I needed a second start to do it right.<\/p>\n

I have\u00a0 felt this is where my heart is.<\/p>\n

To do it right,\u00a0 I\u2019ll have to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cFight for a respectable name in this town.<\/p>\n

Fight to be a man people will respect.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want you to think I\u2019m a clown.<\/p>\n

But, I have a plan that I don\u2019t regret.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of a plan do you have in mind?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI met a rich friend in my travels.<\/p>\n

I saved his life. But, that\u2019s another time.<\/p>\n

He had plans he started to unravel.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted vineyards and a winery.<\/p>\n

There\u00a0 is big money to be had in that.<\/p>\n

But, he needed land, you see.<\/p>\n

I inherited 100 acres.\u00a0 Right here, in fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe said this was ideal to grow grapes.<\/p>\n

He would put up the money to plant.<\/p>\n

I would share 50-50. Nothing to waste.<\/p>\n

I owned the land on which he\u2019d plant.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The waitress said \u201cSounds super to me.<\/p>\n

I own this diner & business has been slow.<\/p>\n

I could use the extra business you see.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a motel 2 blocks down for you to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—– 0 —–<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10 years later the wine business was booming.<\/p>\n

They had acquired more land & planted.<\/p>\n

Tourists came to buy & taste the wine for consuming.<\/p>\n

\u201cI married the waitress\u201d he said, quite candid.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He was elected mayor in the local election.<\/p>\n

He had respect & the family he wanted.<\/p>\n

But, the greatest thing he confessed then.<\/p>\n

He had found God & the peace he wanted.<\/p>\n

————————————————-R. W. Johnson —–(2012)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Path To Respect I rolled into town late at night after hitching a ride with a trucker. I said thanks as he pulled out of site. The diner was open. I\u2019m in luck here.   I stuck my pack under the table. I ordered coffee, strong, & a steak. The waitress turned the … Continue reading The Path To Respect<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,29,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free-bird-poetry","category-life-lessons","category-romance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":534,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions\/534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}