A Rough Day
A man tries to come to terms with his melancholy life.
"Okay Mr. Stevenson, I'll get those files sorted first thing tomorrow" Harvey says as he holds his cell phone in one hand while badgering with an assortment of papers in the other.
Reaching into his pocket for his keys he feels a sudden panic; he has locked them in his car, again.
"Great" he says both angrily and acceptingly, he was not surprised by this kind of luck, it had followed him his whole life anyway. From elementary school, to high school, to his 2 ex-wives, Harvey Malone had never been a winner.
Stepping outside the office building that Harvey calls his second home, he reaches into his pocket and calls a cab.
"Ten minutes, great. Thanks." He says as he sits on a nearby bench to await his ride to his first home. Not much of a home either; a 6th story bachelor pad located downtown on the wrong side of the tracks. TV dinners and several empty bottles of wine litter the kitchen counter; a single mattress on the floor with sheets that haven't been washed in many months rests in the corner of the room he considers his bedroom, a few more liquor bottles are scattered nearby.
A loud, high pitched noise cuts into the silence. Harvey jumps and remembers why he is sitting here.
"Where to pal?" asks the cab driver.
"403 32nd street, please" replies Harvey as he fastens his seat belt.
"Rough day?" asks the driver as he stops at the nearby intersection.
"I don't even know anymore." Harvey says more to himself than to the cab driver. "I wake up twenty minutes late, miss breakfast, get stuck in traffic, show up late and get assigned overtime, and then next thing you know, I realize I locked my keys in my car, but the funny thing is, I really don't even care anymore."
"Hey, keep your chin up."
Harvey returns to his silence, to his better place where he can try to avoid the real world, the world that seems to have it in for him.
Police sirens tear Harvey back to reality.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." The driver fumes as he pulls to the side of the road.
Two policemen approach the car, from both sides.
"License and registration please." The first officer says to the cab driver.
"Identification please." The second officer asks Harvey.
As Harvey sits quietly in the cab while the second officer checks his information he chuckles quietly. He wonders what the point of checking someone like him was, he was a nobody and he always had been.
"Sir, would you please step outside the vehicle; I need to ask you a few questions." The officer ordered authoritatively.
Just as it seemed his day could get no worse, it did. He couldn't even make it home in a cab without attracting bad luck.
"Are you aware that you are overdue payments on three parking violation tickets?" asked the officer, almost rhetorically.
Harvey stood still for a moment, dumbfounded by his somehow worse than normal luck.
"Sir, I asked you a question."
"Yeah I heard you." Replied Harvey snappily, and even the officer seemed surprised by the sudden attitude change.
"How about answering me." The officer said sternly, his attitude now hardening as well.
"I'm sorry...Yes I am aware that-" Harvey suddenly lunged towards the officer and threw what might be considered a punch. Within seconds Harvey was on the ground screaming in pain as his eyes burned and watered in a feeble attempt to rid him of the pepper spray that was now fully absorbed in his eyes and skin.
In a teary blur, Harvey is lifted up by the arms, which are now handcuffed together behind his back, and placed in the back of the police cruiser.
Reaching into his pocket for his keys he feels a sudden panic; he has locked them in his car, again.
"Great" he says both angrily and acceptingly, he was not surprised by this kind of luck, it had followed him his whole life anyway. From elementary school, to high school, to his 2 ex-wives, Harvey Malone had never been a winner.
Stepping outside the office building that Harvey calls his second home, he reaches into his pocket and calls a cab.
"Ten minutes, great. Thanks." He says as he sits on a nearby bench to await his ride to his first home. Not much of a home either; a 6th story bachelor pad located downtown on the wrong side of the tracks. TV dinners and several empty bottles of wine litter the kitchen counter; a single mattress on the floor with sheets that haven't been washed in many months rests in the corner of the room he considers his bedroom, a few more liquor bottles are scattered nearby.
A loud, high pitched noise cuts into the silence. Harvey jumps and remembers why he is sitting here.
"Where to pal?" asks the cab driver.
"403 32nd street, please" replies Harvey as he fastens his seat belt.
"Rough day?" asks the driver as he stops at the nearby intersection.
"I don't even know anymore." Harvey says more to himself than to the cab driver. "I wake up twenty minutes late, miss breakfast, get stuck in traffic, show up late and get assigned overtime, and then next thing you know, I realize I locked my keys in my car, but the funny thing is, I really don't even care anymore."
"Hey, keep your chin up."
Harvey returns to his silence, to his better place where he can try to avoid the real world, the world that seems to have it in for him.
Police sirens tear Harvey back to reality.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." The driver fumes as he pulls to the side of the road.
Two policemen approach the car, from both sides.
"License and registration please." The first officer says to the cab driver.
"Identification please." The second officer asks Harvey.
As Harvey sits quietly in the cab while the second officer checks his information he chuckles quietly. He wonders what the point of checking someone like him was, he was a nobody and he always had been.
"Sir, would you please step outside the vehicle; I need to ask you a few questions." The officer ordered authoritatively.
Just as it seemed his day could get no worse, it did. He couldn't even make it home in a cab without attracting bad luck.
"Are you aware that you are overdue payments on three parking violation tickets?" asked the officer, almost rhetorically.
Harvey stood still for a moment, dumbfounded by his somehow worse than normal luck.
"Sir, I asked you a question."
"Yeah I heard you." Replied Harvey snappily, and even the officer seemed surprised by the sudden attitude change.
"How about answering me." The officer said sternly, his attitude now hardening as well.
"I'm sorry...Yes I am aware that-" Harvey suddenly lunged towards the officer and threw what might be considered a punch. Within seconds Harvey was on the ground screaming in pain as his eyes burned and watered in a feeble attempt to rid him of the pepper spray that was now fully absorbed in his eyes and skin.
In a teary blur, Harvey is lifted up by the arms, which are now handcuffed together behind his back, and placed in the back of the police cruiser.
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