Heller and Shannon: Ripples spread

Shannon was the only window open when she got “a rush” of customers.

The two customers were old friends and Shannon was experienced enough that she could process the transactions and still listen to them converse. She suspected some of the chatter was for her benefit.

“How is little Johnny doing?” Cheryl asked.

“Little Johnny just passed his CPA exam. He will be working in Commerce Township, down by Detroit” Kim said.

“My goodness. I can remember when he was this tall” Cheryl said, holding her hand down around her belt-line “and he would not stop moving. Hard to imagine him sitting all day working on books.”

“Well, you know what we said when they were little, we wanted them to grow up and become middle-men” Kim said while Cheryl nodded.

Noticing that Shannon had flitted her eyes up to see what they were talking about, Kim let her in on the joke. “The government always says farmers need more cash-flow and we always told them the real problem is that we didn’t have any pocket-stop. Seemed like the only people who made money in agriculture were ‘the middle-men’.”

“Farming isn’t an easy living. Lots of worry. Making payment on millions of dollars, trying to keep million dollar equipment running and beating the weather. Only to make enough money so we can splurge and buy cans of readi-mix soup instead of store-brand ramen-noodles” Kim said.

Shannon nodded in agreement. That is tough, to see so much money fly through your hands, to be responsible for every last penny and only have enough money yourself to buy necessities. She knew exactly what they were talking about.

Then the two older women’s conversation turned to how hard it was to find handy-men to do projects around the farm.

“I can remember when every section (square-mile) had at least two young men in construction” Cheryl sighed. “If you needed a garage built or a slab poured you let them know and they would get it whipped out the next weekend...or so it seemed.”

Kim was shaking her head, sharing in the frustration. “You know with these food prices, Steve was wondering if it made sense to put in a root cellar. We don’t grow potatoes or any of that kind of thing but they grow them by the million-tons up in Sheridan and McBride. The thing is, Steve doesn't have the time for it and carpentry isn't the best thing for him to be doing since the back surgery.”

That is when Shannon joined the conversation. “My boyfriend is in construction. He works six days a week but maybe he could look over your project on Sunday.”

The two women beamed. “Lemme ask Steve and see if he was serious. I know right where it would be handiest to put so I got that covered” Kim said.

Shannon figured that if Kim had gotten so far as to figure out where she wanted it Steve better plan on agreeing to the plan.

***

Paul Andrews supplied “Anita” with three names. Shannan aka “Anita” addressed them emails individually.

“Dear Mister Throgmartin:

I will be graduating with a degree in Journalism and Media from University of Indonesia in January and am seeking an internship in Michigan.

I understand that internships are typically not paid positions and will have other sources of revenue during that period.

I was referred to you by Mr. Paul Andrews.

I am not asking for any kind of commitment at this time but am researching opportunities. It will be most helpful if you allow me to be one of your ‘connections’.

If you are not in a position where it is appropriate for you to offer me an internship, can you provide me with some references to further my research.

Many thanks in advance.

Anita Santosa"