Fearful symmetry
I have a job, sort of, and it's Arne's fault. I suppose it could be worse. Last Friday night I helped him do the Three Kronen's first karaoke night ever. Karaoke, for some reason, is fairly novel in Milborough, so the place was packed. I haven't heard so many off-key versions of "King of the Road" in my life. Arne ran the karaoke machine itself, while I passed out request slips, tiny pencils, and the song catalogues. Arne was suprised to see one of his old co-workers from the Valhalla.
"Huskuld!" Arne said.
"Don't call me that."
"Sorry, Howard. How are things?"
"Not great. My trial starts tomorrow, for one thing," Howard said.
"Want to learn how to disappear?" Arne asked him. Howard ignored him and went to pick up a catalogue and a few request slips. Howard was the best singer there all night, and he made 75% of the bar cry when he did "The Green Green Grass of Home." It took Ivar's threats at closing time to get people to stop giving Howard requests to sing.
Afterwords Ivar asked me if I could do this every week. He said he needed someone to keep Arne from doing magic when he was supposed to be hosting karaoke. I agreed: Arne nearly set the amps on fire when he started the hoop trick when he was singing "I Fought the Law." I'm getting hospitality worker underage minimum wage, but it could be worse.
Charles Wallace is getting transferred into a different public school. My parents saw the quizzes he sat through last week, and were really confused about the grades. Charles Wallace explained that the quizzes were supposed to take about six hours each, since his teacher was busy with something at her desk.
"For a week?" my father asked. He was staring at the math quiz, which Charles Wallace got a 40% on, starting with having 1+1=2 marked wrong.
"What exactly have you been doing all term?" my mother asked.
"Instructional films, film board films, filmstrips, DVDs, and the quizzes. That about covers it," Charles Wallace said. My parents then started re-arranging their schedules for the next day so they could both go see the principal. "You might have to take a number," Charles Wallace added.
"Huskuld!" Arne said.
"Don't call me that."
"Sorry, Howard. How are things?"
"Not great. My trial starts tomorrow, for one thing," Howard said.
"Want to learn how to disappear?" Arne asked him. Howard ignored him and went to pick up a catalogue and a few request slips. Howard was the best singer there all night, and he made 75% of the bar cry when he did "The Green Green Grass of Home." It took Ivar's threats at closing time to get people to stop giving Howard requests to sing.
Afterwords Ivar asked me if I could do this every week. He said he needed someone to keep Arne from doing magic when he was supposed to be hosting karaoke. I agreed: Arne nearly set the amps on fire when he started the hoop trick when he was singing "I Fought the Law." I'm getting hospitality worker underage minimum wage, but it could be worse.
Charles Wallace is getting transferred into a different public school. My parents saw the quizzes he sat through last week, and were really confused about the grades. Charles Wallace explained that the quizzes were supposed to take about six hours each, since his teacher was busy with something at her desk.
"For a week?" my father asked. He was staring at the math quiz, which Charles Wallace got a 40% on, starting with having 1+1=2 marked wrong.
"What exactly have you been doing all term?" my mother asked.
"Instructional films, film board films, filmstrips, DVDs, and the quizzes. That about covers it," Charles Wallace said. My parents then started re-arranging their schedules for the next day so they could both go see the principal. "You might have to take a number," Charles Wallace added.
posted by Zandra Larson at 11:48 a.m.
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