41 Comments
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Istiaq Mian's avatar

Jillian says she loved working at a bakery because her customers always walked away happy. Not many businesses can say they do that :) I wish your experience wasn't so tainted by the Frenchman!

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Anna Schott's avatar

Yeah, it can be a great work environment for sure—bakeries are generally cheerful places and smell good too!

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Ros Barber's avatar

That French guy! Love the way he got promoted over you even the only thing he was good at was being French.

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Anna Schott's avatar

Being French is in everyone's best interest!

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Mary Roblyn's avatar

I had a Pablo in second grade. I gave him my biggest Valentine but by fifth grade he’d become a school annoyance. I so, so love this. All of it. Delightful.

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Anna Schott's avatar

That's so funny! Thank you Mary.

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David Roberts's avatar

So much fun to read this, Anna. Black and whites are my favorite with rugaelach a close second.

Don't call it a bribe, call it a Mitzvah.

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Anna Schott's avatar

Ha! Thanks David

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Mark Diacono's avatar

What a read, and i haven’t heard the fuzz called the fuzz in a long time

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Anna Schott's avatar

Me neither!

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Jeffrey Streeter's avatar

This reads with the all the freshness and warmth of a newly baked baguette. Brava!

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Anna Schott's avatar

Grazie, Jeffrey

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Francesca Bossert's avatar

I gobbled this up! Délicieux!

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Holly Starley's avatar

Hahaha! As I commented earlier to another reader, I loved the lying about us all having been middle-aged women fresh from divorce in some sense. That and always feeling slightly guilty—I resonate. Oh, and cultivating distrust of authority in general. You’re a kindred spirit, my friend.

Thank you for yet another delightful piece!

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Anna Schott's avatar

Glad you enjoyed it Holly!

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Sheila (of Ephemera)'s avatar

I'm so glad you weren't arrested, Anna! You definitely hit the Bingo card square on that! I think putting good things out into the world (like extra cookies to cops or cute guys or homeless people) is a way to balance all the negative karma. Glad your boss saw sense and fired the french dude (he sounds like an asshole).

Wonderful writing - I always get so engrossed in your stories!

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Anna Schott's avatar

Thanks Sheila, I agree it is good to have cookies at one's disposal

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Wendy Varley's avatar

Beautifully woven, Anna.

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Anna Schott's avatar

Thanks!

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Susanna Namuli's avatar

“…we’ve all been middle-aged women fresh from a divorce at some point, in some sense, even if we haven’t..”

This line 😊

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Holly Starley's avatar

Yes! It was this line for me too!

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Anna Schott's avatar

Ha ha, I hope so, anyway

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Winkfield Twyman's avatar

I was hooked in this tale from start to finish/smile.

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Anna Schott's avatar

Awesome

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Bob Blaisdell's avatar

Real good.

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Anna Schott's avatar

Thanks Bob

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Cherry Coombe's avatar

Sublime.

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Anna Schott's avatar

Haha, thanks!

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Sue Dhillon's avatar

Hilarious and insightful. I guess there really are multiple ways to buy bacon.

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Anna Schott's avatar

Thanks Sue!

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Sue Dhillon's avatar

You're welcome!

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Tom Barrie Simmons Author's avatar

A very tasty treat, I want it to be a true story and maybe there's another chapter, or perhaps an epilogue? Anyway, There's a little good in bad and a little bad in good, usually.

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Tom Barrie Simmons Author's avatar

I'm so glad it's true. I'm afraid that I'm a rather naive romantic, who believes - rather than questions the teller. Better to be proved wrong sometimes, than be skeptical of everything.

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Anna Schott's avatar

Thanks Tom. It's a true story!

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