World News Trust World News Trust
World News Trust World News Trust
  • News Portal
  • All Content
    • Edited
      • News
      • Commentary
      • Analysis
      • Advisories
      • Source
    • Flatwire
  • Topics
    • Agriculture
    • Culture
      • Arts
      • Children
      • Education
      • Entertainment
      • Food and Hunger
      • Sports
    • Disasters
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Government
    • Health
    • Media
    • Science
    • Spiritual
    • Technology
    • Transportation
    • War
  • Regions
    • Africa
    • Americas
      • North America
      • South America
    • Antarctica
    • Arctic
    • Asia
    • Australia/Oceania
    • Europe
    • Middle East
    • Oceans
      • Arctic Ocean
      • Atlantic Ocean
      • Indian Ocean
      • Pacific Ocean
      • Southern Ocean
    • Space
  • World Desk
    • Submit Content
  • About Us
  • Sign In/Out
  • Register
  • Site Map
  • Contact Us
  • Russia's War and the Global Economy | Nouriel Roubini
  • U.S. Considers Radical Rethinking Of Dollar For Today's Digital World | David Gura
  • Why is Israel Amending Its Open-Fire Policy?: Three Possible Answers | Ramzy Baroud
  • WATCH: Republican National Committee Abandons America
  • ‘Previously Unknown Massacres’: Why is Israel Allowed to Own Palestinian History? | Ramzy Baroud
  • The Revolt of the Imagination, Part One: Notes on Belbury Syndrome | John Michael Greer
  • Human gut bacteria have sex to share vitamin B12 | University of California - Riverside

On the Streets of Bedford Falls (David Glenn Cox)

More items by author
Categories
Edited | Employment | Finance | Spiritual | Culture | Commentary | Commentary -- WNT Reports | Business | Economy | Labor | North America | All Content
Tool Bar
View Comments

wonderful_lifeDavid Glenn Cox -- World News Trust

Dec. 13, 2010 -- There is not much happening this year on the streets of Bedford Falls. The Christmas decorations went up on Main Street, same as always, but it’s just not the same. Old man Gower’s drug store moved out to the by-pass years ago and was bought out by Rite-Aid. The Building and Loan is a tanning salon now, and across the street is the Thrift Store.

The Building and Loan was bought out by Countrywide Mortgage. George, being George, fought the good fight, but with all the refis done around town and the sweet offer made to Uncle Billy, plus the shares Mr. Potter gladly sold, George didn’t stand a chance. Mr. Potter had other plans after merging his bank with Bank of America; he leveled his properties in Potter’s Field and developed the new Potter’s Field Mall. That’s where all the Christmas activities can be found now.

But it’s been a tough year. The plastics plant built by Sam Wainwright relocated to China, throwing half the town out of work. Bert the cop was killed in a gang fight over turf, not far from the old the Bedford Falls High School. The troubles have driven the more affluent families to place their children in the Potter's Christian Academy. The old school had been in trouble since the jobs began to leave town. They don’t use the pool under the gym floor anymore, too much maintenance and too expensive. It became just one of many extracurricular activities done away with when the tax base collapsed.

Uncle Billy sold his house while the market was still strong, and with his proceeds from the sale of the Building and Loan bought a condo in a retirement community outside of Orlando. Ma Bailey had to let the boarding house go, too many rough customers and her age caught up with her. The boarding house didn’t sell for much, being in an old neighborhood and too close to town.

Ma moved in with George and Mary; she didn’t want to because of the many stairs and limited bathrooms. But she had little in the way of savings and only a small Social Security pension. It barely covered her supplemental coverage and George couldn’t afford to keep up both homes. They gave her the downstairs bedroom and now she spends most of her days watching cable TV and Fox News.

Harry and Ruth Bailey split up. Harry’s repeated deployments overseas put a strain on their marriage. Ruth complained after Harry’s third deployment that he had changed and wasn’t the same man she married.

With the Building and Loan gone, George drifted from job to job, first as a foreman with a construction company, then as a mortgage broker for Countrywide. They had to let him go; he just didn’t have the imagination that they where looking for. He kept pushing thirty-year conventional fixed-rate mortgages, and he failed to understand that in the new low-wage economy few could qualify under those terms. It finally came to a head when George questioned the veracity of the figures in a no-documentation loan.

Mary got a job as a cashier at the Dollar General, working for Mr. Othello, to try and help out. Even though Mary had a college degree, there were few jobs of any type in Bedford Falls. With no money for college, Pete joined the Marine Corps and has been deployed overseas, and Tommy works as a mechanic at a shop out on the by-pass. Janey moved to California and calls only occasionally on holidays.

Zuzu works as a cocktail waitress at Martini's, goes to college part-time at Potter State, and still lives at home. The family hopes to sing Christmas carols after midnight, just like they used to do in the old days, after George gets home from his current job as assistant manager at the Wal-Mart Super Center down the road from the mall. Life is still wonderful, but not as wonderful as it used to be.

There just aren’t any more angels around, and the splashes coming from the old bridge are common now. After all, they’re strangers to the Baileys, and the Baileys are strangers to them.

back to top
  • Created
    Monday, December 13 2010
  • Last modified
    Wednesday, November 06 2013
  1. You are here:  
  2. Home
  3. All Content
  4. Edited
  5. On the Streets of Bedford Falls (David Glenn Cox)
Copyright © 2022 World News Trust. All Rights Reserved.
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU General Public License.