three men with stained shirts and scraggly beards trying to get a jump on the day

the first thing i did today was take some empty beer cans back for the deposit. i needed bread. plus the fruit flies or the gnats or whatever the fuck you call them had been outnumbering me for quite awhile.

when i got to the grocery store with my big black garbage bag full of cans there was a dirty man with dirty travel bags stuffing cans into one of the machines.

there was another dirty man with a shopping cart full of bottles and cans and filthy bags to. but he was just standing there yapping at an uninterested employee stocking the discount bread shelves.

so i went to the other machine that's there. thinking i was real smart. like i'd a get a jump on this dope running his mouth.

the dirty man with the cart came over and muttered something. i couldn't tell if he was speaking french or english. at first i thought he was gonna scold me for jumping the line. his lips flapped and i had to strain to get any idea.

what? i said

it's full, he said.

it's full? i said.

i talked to an employee but… he said.

ok, i said.

i found a corner and stood there with my big black garbage bag full of empty cans looking at the ground. just another dirty man with nowhere to go.