He Didn't Know

Contributor: Wayne Scheer

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He didn't know she cleaned homes
and cared for old people since she was twelve;

He didn't know she raised two children as a single mother
after her husband abandoned the family;

He didn't know she raised her granddaughter
after her son followed in his father's footsteps;

He didn't know she completed a GED at forty-five
and went to a community college in her fifties;

He didn't know she worked overtime to pay for tutors
to help her pass her math classes;

He didn't know she graduated with a two-year degree
as her granddaughter cheered;

He didn't know she was rejected from the nursing program
because of her age and health issues;

He didn't know she developed adult diabetes and heart trouble
due to a lifetime of poor nutrition;

He didn't know she drove from Atlanta to Auburn
when her mother had a stroke;

He didn't know she and her mother pooled their disability checks
so she could buy a reliable car;

He didn't know shit. Still, he felt qualified to comment on
“the poor black woman who drives a $30,000 car.”


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Wayne Scheer has locked himself in a room with his computer and turtle since his retirement. (Wayne's, not the turtle's.) To keep from going back to work, he's published hundreds of short stories, essays and poems, including Revealing Moments, a collection of twenty-four flash stories. (http://issuu.com/pearnoir/docs/revealing_moments). He's been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and a Best of the Net.