Author's note: This story is an entrant into the
750 Word Project 2025
. As most everyone knows, it's difficult to write any story in 750- words. This one included. It seems every story has too much to say, and 750- words just isn't enough. But in this instance, I took a different approach. I took a version of an old joke and made it into a story. Some may have heard the joke before, but many may have not. Either way, I think it lent itself to a nice re-telling as a 750- word story. I hope you enjoy it, vote at the end, and comment as you feel appropriate. Below this introduction is precisely 750- words.
A man walks into a bar. Actually, in this case, it's a hotel restaurant. I'm the man. My name is Walter Pryszbilinski, a 34-year-old construction manager. I'm single, straight, white, bordering on middle-aged, and spend way too much time on the road.
Being married would be impossible as I travel approximately nine months of every year. Eventually, I want a relationship, but I don't want to start one with failure as an inevitability. So, I travel, I work, and I wait until such a time when I can prioritize being at home with a wife and children.
Now, with introductions out of the way, let me tell you about my dinner date last night. I was in Newark NJ. My team had just completed phase 1 of a project at the Port of Newark NJ, assembling a large container handling system. I am flying home to Portsmouth NH, out of Newark Liberty Airport, tomorrow morning at 7am. I have not been home for 6- weeks and am very excited to be leaving Newark for the beautiful White mountains. It's still cold, there's snow on the ground, and winter activities are all available. I love New Hampshire.