"Two wrongs may not make a right but a thousand wrongs make a writer.”

Friday, April 6, 2012

Inmate Work Crews Beautify the Highway (Fri.Flash 55)

The bus idles on the side of the road
and I know what’s coming:
stooped bodies in fluorescent vests,
young and colored and doing time.
Cool Hand Cop lounges by the bus.
He doesn’t have to wear a vest.
Trash flies from an open window.
They don’t look up. There is no temptation.


The G-Man wants to know if you can tell a story in 55  words. It's supposed to be fiction. Maybe  it is.

18 comments:

G-Man said...

That, and the bottle deposit is what helps keep Michigan lookin GOOD! I do a lot of travelling, and we are indeed one of the best groomed states around.
Loved your 55 Yvonne.
Thank you so much for your support, thanks for playing, and have a Kick Ass Week-End

izzy said...

I really like this! and I wish more was done with it- feels like people could be doing a lot of good! especially since the young folk today
often don't give a hoot...

Daydreamertoo said...

That was another killer movie too. I could not believe how many eggs he ate!
Great 55! :)

Brian Miller said...

really nice capture...we def see them on the side of the road here...and the shotgun is ready...smiles...

nice flow to this as well...

anthonynorth said...

Excellent review :-)

Jemi Fraser said...

The Michigan highways are great to travel - didn't know this was part of the reason why!

PattiKen said...

American landscape feature... So many go in after a little mistake and come out all ready to be really bad guys. I think we call that reform. Uh-huh.

Cool Hand Cop is a great line.

Liza said...

Love "Cool Hand Cop."

"What we have here, is a failure to communicate," Not!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

As always a great flash from you.
I gotta say those fast-food bags flying out of cars makes me see red. Enough with the trashing of our world, people! (sigh, see my post today and understand my frustration)

Anthony Duce said...

Enjoyed… We fly past them. I’m not glad not everyone forgets once out of site.

Other Mary said...

Good 55 Yvonne. I like the fast food bags flying, what really bugs me is all the people who throw their cig butts and never look back.

Nara Malone said...

Sad. It doesn't take much to wind up in one of those vests.Mostly all it takes is not having much to start with.

Golden Eagle said...

Interesting flash! I love the description.

Lydia said...

Huh, that is interesting that Michigan uses jail crews to clean the highway. Makes a lot of sense to me. This was not only informative, but so descriptive too.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Galen,
I wish everyone had a bottle deposit. The pop bottlers fight it tooth and nail. The further south you go, the more litter you see, especially off the beaten path. You notice that?

Izzy,
Thanks for commenting.

Daydreamer,
Right. That was astounding. Paul Newman was so good in that and I can still see the guard with the sunglasses and that nasty little warden.

Brian,
Thanks. I always makes me feel kinda wierd but at least they're getting sunshine and exercise. It's a neverending job given the propensity for some people to litter.

Anthony,
Thanks!!

Jemi,
That's true and one of the reasons is that we have a nice bottle return law. I'm surprised more states don't. Do you in Canada?

Patti,
Thanks! Highest incarceration rate in the world and Michigan is highest in the states. Nothing to be proud of there.

Liza,
That was a wonderful movie and that little man was such a hateful character.

Tricia,
I've already thanked you but thanks again. Hey! Everyone...go to Tricia's!

Tony,
Thank you. Sometimes it's hard to unsee what we have seen.

Mary,
That's because the don't thing cig butts are littering. Thanks.

Nara,
That is so true. Poverty is the main cause of incarceration.

Golden,
Thanks so much for commenting.

Lydia,
Well, at least they're getting sunshine and exercise. Thanks.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

We see crews all the time in NC. It's despartely needed.

Suzanne Casamento said...

The prisoner crews clean my beach all the time. As I walk by, I am grateful that they at least get to see the ocean.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Diane,
Yeah, we all need someone to pick up after us. Thanks for commenting. I appreciate it!

Hi Suzanne,
That's one good thing about it. I wonder if any of them are ever tempted to touch the water...put a foot in...