The Part Time People Read Online Free

on Mike’s wife Bobby had come to her support and told her she felt the same way about the part-timers. There was no longer any doubt. It isn't me. It's them all right, Gwen thought. And boy, could she tell stories about those guys! It all began when Joe came back, just after his father died. Gwen had been there for a year already at the time.
     
    Before Joe came back, his father had worked the extra shifts himself, and there had been no part time people. Just the family folks and her. But Joe didn't want to work the extra hours. He didn't belong there, really, she thought, but who was she to say? He was the oldest, after all. In any case, he sure knew how to hire people.
     
    Every time it was another weirdo. The first one, Rick, just seemed happy to be a jerk at first, a stupid happy jerk who couldn't learn a thing. He never figured out the difference between a twenty and a ten. That was bad for business and his drawer was always short or over, never right, she could live with that though. It was the way he turned out later, after about two months, when he started commenting on what the customers were purchasing.
     
    He'd come to think that you could tell a person's personality from the office supplies they bought. She thought that he was joking, maybe he was making fun of everyone, but he was deadly serious. And from there it was a short step to analysis and counseling on how to change themselves by changing carbon paper brands, and finally to fortune telling through the medium of paper clips. He had three special ones, gold plated, which he would rattle in his hand and toss out on the counter, then proceed to tell the customer's future. This he only did on Thursday nights, when Mike was not around. And Mike did not believe her when she told him all about it. That's the stupidest thing I ever heard, he said, and she had said, well, he's just about the stupidest person I ever met!
     
    Most customers didn’t mind a quick fortune at the end of their transaction, they thought it was amusing. But Rick finally flipped out and started seeing the apocalypse whenever he threw his clips. Customers started complaining and they had to let him go. He still showed up every now and then, and purchased supplies occasionally. He seemed different though, his goofy grin was gone, replaced by an unkempt beard.
     
    After him was George, the creep who couldn't keep his hands off anything. He flirted with all the customers, women and men. He was unbelievable. Gwen used to stand there and just gape at him as he delivered his lines. They actually worked a few times and he would suddenly tell Gwen he was leaving early, then walk out with his catch. No one could get over him. He was like a magic trick you couldn't figure out, an obscene, ridiculous creature someone pulled out of a hat. He was loud, too, as if he had a built-in microphone. You could hear him clear across the store like he was standing next to you, and he was one of those people who had no sense of personal space. George was magnetic, not like charismatic people whom others are drawn to, but in the opposite way. He was drawn to everyone else, and they could not easily disengage from him. He even glommed onto Joe at times, though for some reason he steered clear of Mike. When Mike was around, George was more subdued and kept himself within reasonable bounds. With that cat away, however, George was everywhere, pulling himself into everybody’s business, helping those who would more happily be helping themselves, and taking his high-volume patter on a continual tour around the shop. He’d pop back into the office and draw near Joe when he was there, asking questions and making suggestions and telling stories and basically driving the boss crazy. Joe would sit there shaking with frustration and rage, unable to rid himself of the creature or even think straight while the fellow was in there with him.
     
    Eventually George would move along, heading back out to the floor to find