For a columnist who has always been interested in the beat writers, a fascination with Bukowski seemed like destiny. Back in the late seventies a coworker (at a weekly Santa Monica newspaper) strongly recommended that this columnist read Bukowski's novel "Post Office."
The fact that he did buy it and read it would spark a new bit of literay enthusiasm and also help save him from a bad situation. That, in turn, gives us a perfect chance to inject a true life example of life in a newspaper environment into this column.
About two and a half decades ago, when this columnist was "the new guy" at the Santa Monica Evening Outlook (RIP), an odd bit of conversation occurred during the "becoming a member of the team" phase of working towards a pension. A young fellow who didn't have to make much of an adjustment to celebrate the annual "Talk like a Pirate" day, sidled up next to the new hire and rasped: "Want a chance to make a few bucks?"
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