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    Narratives and Short Stories: Non-Fiction Narratives Including Memoirs of Author, Followed by Ten Unique Fictional Stories
    Narratives and Short Stories: Non-Fiction Narratives Including Memoirs of Author, Followed by Ten Unique Fictional Stories
    Narratives and Short Stories: Non-Fiction Narratives Including Memoirs of Author, Followed by Ten Unique Fictional Stories
    Ebook107 pages1 hour

    Narratives and Short Stories: Non-Fiction Narratives Including Memoirs of Author, Followed by Ten Unique Fictional Stories

    By Robert Estes

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    About this ebook

    The ten fictional tales are unique, some with compassion, some with humor, and most with unusual conclusions promising delight and perhaps whimsy in the reader.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBalboa Press
    Release dateOct 18, 2013
    ISBN9781452583358
    Narratives and Short Stories: Non-Fiction Narratives Including Memoirs of Author, Followed by Ten Unique Fictional Stories
    Author

    Robert Estes

    Dr. Estes was born in 1931. He practiced ophthalmology in Tucson from 1965 until 1982, and then reviewed disability claims for Social Security from 1987 for almost twenty years. A widower now for over ten years he continues to reside in Tucson enjoying writing short fictional stories instead of watching daytime TV.

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      Narratives and Short Stories - Robert Estes

      Table of Contents

      I will miss my country

      Robert Triplett Estes

      Amendments

      Addendum to Amendment to Memoir

      Pub Chronicles

      Larry’s Lament

      The Twin Sin

      Second Honeymoon

      Soul Mates

      Happy Birthday

      Janet

      Devil’s Den

      Credo

      No Sex, Please, We’re British

      Early last year, shortly after Obama was elected president, I wrote a treatise entitled / will miss my country. I was severely castigated by liberal family and friends.

      In fact I erred—I underestimated how much damage and how quickly this havoc would occur.

      The following is a reprint of that composition with some current comments added.

      I will miss my country

      Born in 1931 my formative years were the 40’s and 50’s. My roots in economics, politics, religion, society, hard work and education developed in an era of unprecedented freedom, ambition, development, success and joie de vivre. A penny postcard indeed did cost one cent, and a first class stamp three cents. When I learned to drive gasoline was less than twenty cents per gallon—1 always received change from a five dollar bill when filling up the gas tank.

      Yes, Franklin Roosevelt was always president (as Pius XII was always Pope) noting minimum wage laws began in 1938 (at 40 cents), then Social Security in 1939 followed by Medicare in 1965. Despite these portends of later problems life was good and opportunities abounded. Never in the history of the world had a previous civilization enjoyed such blessings, industry, wealth, scientific and medical progress, with leaps in knowledge, wisdom and understanding.

      Young people today I fear cannot appreciate the degree of societal changes which have occurred in these past two generations. This doe not speak highly of today’s level of education.

      Inflation is one of our least problems, but hyperinflation looms in the near future. Of greater concern is the incremental loss of our freedoms, with ever increasing control of our lives by government—

      Inflation in the malaise of the Carter administration was in double digit, and unemployment was a record high of 7.4%. Today unemployment is over 10%, worse in some areas such as Ohio and Michigan—who would have thought we would miss the Carter days?

      We were promised unemployment would not go above 8%, and we would save or create at least three million jobs by the end of 2010.

      When I grew up the free market determined what wages would be paid to an employee (new rules today for car companies, insurance companies, banks and brokers), no government agency could determine what health care benefits should be extended to employees (new health care law certainly changed that), a business which ceased to be profitable went out of business, replaced by another with better success and/or management (does anyone remember the A and P Grocery Chain, PanAm Airline, or buggy whip manufacturers?)—General Motors, Chrysler, banks, insurance companies failing students were not promoted to the next grade level (many university students now need make up courses before they can pursue college level teaching)

      English was our common language, both spoken and written, and the ever increasing number of emigrants learned not only English but a basic history of the United States—they embraced US culture and mores willingly and enthusiastically (suggestion you learn English is now considered racist), the purpose of government was to protect our citizens from foreign enemies, provide for the common good such as in highways and related infrastructures, manage a safe monetary system and provide a common rule of law—unless protecting our southern border is considered. In Afghanistan Obama stated we needed a new dawn of American leadership that would be marked by an emphasis on diplomacy and multilateralism and not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians—no more would America be the global bully.

      • foster self reliance, encourage development and, Yes, accumulation of wealth (Joe the plumber received a different answer—wealth needs to be spread around),

      • maintain our founding father’s pledges of freedom of religion, property ownership and freedom from want (and government intrusion!)

      • home ownership was encouraged but you had to save for a down payment (20% was common until V A loans developed for veterans)—look what happened when requirements were artificially lowered!

      • the thought of government confiscating private property for a developer who promised higher tax revenues in his plans was unthinkable,

      • profiling criminal suspects, whether in speeding violations or in more serious crimes, was appropriate behavior—more racists

      • tenured professors could preach misguided information but there was accountability for their actions from their peers,

      • no government agency ever had the right to tell a business there was a limit to compensation for owners, managers, or anyone—the share holders and the market managed excesses very well—punitive taxes are threatened for those who are making too much

      • freedom of speech was sacrosanct, whether in news media (decidedly liberal today) or on talk radio—this latter is threatened by the very government in charge of protecting that right—there is too much information out there—it is a distraction according to President Obama, a million dollars was a huge sum of money, but then talk shifted to billions—recently our government is talking about trillions—does anyone realize what a trillion dollars really is?—for those educated in public schools that is $1,000,000,000,000, a million times a million! . . . for our estimated 304 million legal residents in the US that is equal to some $2,800 for each of us were it distributed directly to the population, a reduction in capital gains rates during Reagan’s presidency led to a massive increase in government revenue—Obama believes government must pick the winners and losers; when individuals and businesses prosper in the free market it is inherently unfair and must be corrected and, if possible, prevented by government, Obama has opined the Bush tax cuts were an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy and directed some eighty-three billion dollars be transferred to people who didn’t earn enough to pay taxes—this he brazenly called tax cuts

      • Raising capital gains taxes is a matter of fairness regardless of the outcome, two parent families, with the mother in the home performing the primary child rearing activities, was the norm—some 40% of newborn babies are now in fatherless homes—our government encourages undermining the nuclear family with welfare programs that provide incentives for people to remain uninsured, quit working, and to produce illegitimate children,

      • Christmas was almost universally accepted as a proper federal holiday and was similarly almost universally celebrated,

      But how times have changed.

      Our politicians believe government is the answer to our problems. Bureaucrats are better able to direct how we live our lives than are we. They know better than business owners what wages should be paid to workers, what benefits should be granted, why gender is a consideration in the level of pay an employee receives, and which businesses are too big to fail.

      I admit I was sickened by the election of Obama to our presidency. Not because of his African-American heritage—to me that was a plus and may well have been overdue—but because of his strong left wing ideology, his belief that big government is good and the answer to our malaise. Recall John McCain ran a poor campaign, did not encourage the conservative base (and was never a fan of mine) and yet received 47% of the popular vote! Duh!—okay, they were voting against Bush and for Sarah Palin.

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