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plush horse stories
ice cream parlor,
candy shop, bakery, 1986-1990
work stories

his mom’s car

there was this kid who started working at the plush
horse, he was this fat little geek, thick glasses and
everything, and most of the guys that worked there
were older and not so awkward. well one of them, matt,
decided to make it his personal goal to make fun of
this kid whenever he could, god, i don’t even remember
this kid’s name, something like mark or something, but
i really can’t remember. i guess it doesn’t matter.

but this matt guy really didn’t like him, and no one did,
but i felt kind of sorry for the kid because matt was just
so mean to him. i figured, okay, he’s a geek, he gets
picked on enough, but this really isn’t necessary. well
one day this kid came into the plush horse, and he
wasn’t working that day, and i saw him come in, and
he looked really mad, like i’ve never seen him this mad
before. and so i ask him while he’s walking by, toward
the ice cream counter, i ask, why are you so mad?

and he says that someone keyed his car, messed up
the paint job and everything, and the worst thing was
it was his mother’s car. and then he walks to the ice cream
counter and starts talking to matt and i can’t hear what
they’re saying. so i’m minding my own business, and
the next thing i know i hear the kid yell, right in the
middle of this ice cream shop, he yells fuck you
to matt, and he starts walking away. and matt says,

yeah, that’s what i wrote on your car. and i remember
looking at matt with such disgust when he said that,
and after the kid left i told him that he just went too far.

so then two weeks later i went to the grocery store with
lisa and we bought a bottle of cheap dish washing
liquid called Pink Lady, and we went to the parking
lot of the plush horse while matt was working and we
squirted the Pink Lady all over matt’s windshield. we
figured that if he used washer fluid it would just make
this big soapy mess, but at least there was no permanent
damage. and the worst thing was that it was his mom’s car.


Copyright Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.

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listen: mp3 file (1:11) read live 01/25/11 from the ISBN# & ISSN# book a Wake-up Call from Tradition, live at the Café in Chicago
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of the intro at the the Café Chicago open mic 01/25/11 & the poems Getaway, Couldn’t Take It Home, His Mom’s Car, At Least That’s What I Hear, and Thinking. I Hate That.
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Published in her book Close Cover Before Striking, read (for future audio CD release) 06/28/11 on WZRD radio, from the main camera
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Published in her book Close Cover Before Striking, read (for future audio CD release) 06/28/11 on WZRD radio, from the mini camera
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See feature-length YouTube
video 06/26/11 of the majority of the WZRD radio show with her reading poetry (including this poem) from the main camera
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See feature-length YouTube
video 06/26/11 of ~45 minutes of the WZRD radio show with her reading poetry (including this poem) from the mini cam
video Listen mp3 file (2:25, 07/03/11)
Or watch the
YouTube video
video (Published in her book Close Cover Before Striking) 07/05/11 at the Café
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See feature-length YouTube
video 07/05/11 of Janet Kuypers performing her poetry @ Chicago’s the Café
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of the intro to the 07/05/11 open mic at the Café in Chicago, with poems and her Close Cover Before Striking poems


the book Close Cover Before Striking