Glen, Part 1: He took a bite from a pizza slice, left sitting in the box, which had sat on his coffee table since

friday, while his other hand scrolled his newsfeed.  More cold weather on the way...of course.  Another ad popped on-screen; annoying, but ad-free wasn't worth the cost.  He'd gladly put up with the non-stop vanity-parade - a $20 saved here, $10 saved from over there, $7 from over thataways...it added up over time.  Glen stood about three years away from finally getting the mortgage off his back, and was determined to squeeze it to two years.  

Ugh, what's this?  On his screen flashed ... how'd they know?  If he hadn't known any better, he'd of concluded a drone had flown by, earlier in the day and snapped a pic of the fraying hem of his mom's dress.  Had Glen been a conspiracy theorist, he of almost sworn AI could read minds.

Mom needed some new clothing, and a new pair of shoes wouldn't hurt either.   It wasn't like she'd no money.  Not only had Dad seen to it, she had atleast some funds - in case something would happen - mom had a way of squeezing a dollar into five.  

But enough was enough - dad was probably turning over in his grave.  When dad was alive, anything even faded was fine about anywhere else.  But not church.

Mom's winter coat wasn't looking so hot either.  Hhmm, a coat, a pair of shoes, and two dresses...the figures tallied in Glen's head...about $1,200-ish.  Not a problem.  No, the problem was finding decent clothing - everything was made fast, for even "faster" women.

And yeah, he knew Traci could hook him up.  But, oh no, he'd figure this one out on his own.  As far as he was concerned, they were done.

How could she, anyway?  

He and his sister, had their share of ups and downs, and some humdinger disagreements.  Some years back, they had not spoken for months, she'd voted for ... IDIOT.  Yep, hope yer happy, because IDIOT did get us in a war.  Yes Readers, Glen's one of those guys who seriously questions if giving women the vote was a bright idea...after all.  But that election did happen, and afyerward they both did eventually move on - and outside shooting hoops, or tin cans in mom's back field.  

But this last turn of events went well beyond women's dumb voting preferences.  Yeah IDIOT did promise lower tuition rates.  And yeah, Glen did in fact laugh in his sister's face, that one particular thursday, as the family conversed while filling themselves with turkey and fixings, "almost $6.50 for regular, that's ... that's just insane!" 

This last turn??  Yeah, Pastor on-the-Podcast, you go on about forgiveness, bet yer sister didn't marry some [blankety-blank] Russian.