I didn't like "The Great Wall" as much as I liked "Catfish." The only reason that comes to mind is that I found the ending of "The Great Wall" to be rather abrupt. I seem to remember reading the draft story before, but it was a long time ago and I wouldn't mind reading it again.
Funny how emotional people got about clothes, hair, and beards back in those days. People nowadays wear most anything and nobody seems to care. When I grew my beard I didn't mean for it to be a political statement, I just got tired of shaving after three years in the army. Nevertheless. one of my old army buddies, who came to visit me some time after we both got out, told me that I was a "disgrace to my beard" because my political views had taken a sharp turn to the right, as his had taken a sharp turn to the left, since last we met.
I had to shave to get into the paper mill, which I wouldn't have done if it wasn't for this woman who I had been shacking up with for a few months. She worked as a waitress in a fancy restaurant that closed up during the winter, and she was planning on relocating to Vermont where she had a winter job in a ski lodge waiting for her. I asked her what would it take to get her to stay here and spend the winter with me. She said that the job I had at the time didn't pay enough to support both of us but, if I could get into the paper mill, she would consider staying with me. I still wouldn't have done it except some guys I knew at the mill said I could grow my beard back after I completed my probationary period and joined the union. That's exactly what I did, but the woman went to Vermont anyway, while my job at the paper mill lasted 23 years.
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