The Old Men

For years, the old men had been hanging around the country grocery store whiling away their days playing checkers and dominoes and talking about politics, women, drinking and life experiences. All that time, the store owner readily approved their presence in the store and went on about his business as if they were not there. Then, one fateful morning in the fall of 1956, a new owner bought the business who was not quite as tolerant. The narrator of this story, an unnamed thirteen-year-old, was the son of the new owner and tells how his father dealt with the problem of the old men. 5 Stars"About old times, yet about an instant in time...""Another short and moving story by an author that is quickly mastering the art, if he hasn't already.
John Isaac Jones' stories are in a simple setting but tell of so many deep truths. I recall a quote by Willa Cathers that writing a story is like looking at a vase of flowers in the middle of a room; you get a different perspective from varying points of view. These stories give you much to think about. A tight-knit group alike in many ways, yet each has a vastly different personality which inevitably leads to conflict.
This is a story spanning a generation of what is, for the most part, Main Street USA. However enduring those times are, we are reminded that they can take an unexpected turn at any given moment .