Career moves
My father had a TV repair business.
Before that, he’d worked for a TV repair business,
and before that, he’d had a TV repair business,
and before that, he’d had a TV repair business.
The one that prospered dealt in service contracts
with hotels, hospitals, and the like. No walk-ins
from working families needing their Laverne & Shirley.
My father was not passionate about TVs or repairs.
If he could have made more money sweeping floors
with no boss, he would have done that.
Before learning television repair
he’d been a mechanic, he’d sold cookware
door to door, he’d driven a cab.
He worked hard when he had to,
didn’t when he didn’t. Fished, played Yahtzee,
read the Bible. Sold Norm’s TV just before
people traded fix for replace. (That poor buyer!)
My father moved with Mom, who continued to use
that cookware he used to sell, to a small farm
with a little pond. He raised one calf a year
for the beef, read the Bible a lot,
watched TV even more.
— Carl Bettis
2025-04-03
(NaPoWriMo 2025 Day 3)