
POLITICAL EBBS AND FLOWS
It seemed a good idea at the time.
All my constituents… notified. RSVPs… received and counted. The race was in the bag, as far as I was concerned.
Yea, I knew it was hard to unseat an incumbent. But so many people were upset with the side-deals and under-the-table offerings made this past year… Fort Hammerstein was ready for a change.
A fulltime businessman… my family’s name… I was a shoe-in!
My great-great-grandfather had founded this small town with his sawmill here at the fork of the Susquehanna River.
Great-grandfather tripled his hardware store’s size … a mini-mall way before mini-mall’s existed.
Grandfather created one of the first duplex-housing units for his mill workers. He doubled the size of the mill and began round-the-clock shifts for the workers. Initially, the idea met with resistance. Grandfather offered four extra vacation days for the evening-shifts and the night-shift workers. Suddenly, working the night-shifts were the most sought after shifts.
Father and I rested on our laurels. With competitive wages, our workers were happy.
Little did I realize the political drain on my campaign… Fort Hammerstein’s eleven-time state championship football coach’s suddenly retires. He wants to run for the town’s mayor as well.
Wow! I had not planned for that!
Written for Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner: Week #2- 2016. Requirements: Using the photo prompt and the first given sentence, create a flash fiction story of 200 words or less.
Good one!
LikeLike
It’s better not to assume anything! A state championship winning football coach will always be more popular!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Being popular and having a name for yourself goes a long way! Too bad the coach didn’t retire at a later date.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh dear, there’s no beating a winning football coach!
LikeLiked by 1 person