WEBVTT

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"I take out videos on
Saturdays from the pack

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of coupons I find by the console
and make popcorn for the kids

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in the neighborhood
who don't even

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put their feet on the sofa.

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Right by the video is the
Olson's address in France,

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which I keep clean in a sort
of shrine away from the butts.

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I also take good
care of the lawn

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and ask, did Olson really
mean water three times a week,

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like it's on a list.

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The boy who does have
a list, I feed Oreos,

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and we never see him, again,
except once, riding his bike

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and waving, while
Ernie's getting

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at the cracks in the driveway
and scrubbing the oil spots.

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For everyone else, Ernie
fixes dishwashers, radiators,

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computers, any of
those er things

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and takes nothing for it.

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I have words with him as
usual, but he says give,

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and it will come back.

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It is true we get invitations
nearly daily in lieu,

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and two old fridges, which
we sell as if unused.

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But when we visit,
and when we visit,

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Ernie smokes out the
boy part in each husband

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where the talk locks on small
parts or their dad's cars.

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The ladies love the dog,
all grin and no bite.

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It lures them off a lawn they
are dressing, or even tuning

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a headset makes them bend
at the knees and pet it.

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All I have to do is
stand by that dog,

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and they forgive my
sundress with that pattern

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and its troubles.

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It is on a Friday, a big
day for waving and helping,

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for parading the dog and going
to dinner with a sun outside so

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hot in the late afternoon,
the neighbors have

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their blinds down, and so
don't see Ernie, puttering,

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and me dusting

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when the phone rings.

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Now, we don't answer
the phone ever.

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We tell people, the
Olson's have a machine,

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and we don't want
to lose messages.

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So it's just us
listening, but this

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is the ring we've
been expecting,

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Amina something saying
how she looks forward

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to seeing Mr. Olson on Monday.

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I haven't mentioned how little
the neighbors look forward

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to seeing their neighbors.

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I always try to stay positive.

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People can feel
it, but the Olson's

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are so unlike us, they say.

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You two are really so nice,
and how did they, they wonder,

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get so different?

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They even suggest we rent
a bungalow just blocks off

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that would do so well, they say,
for a couple active, like us,

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so we don't have to
go back to Florida,

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where we live in one of those
wretched old people condos.

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Condos, I snort,
but I let Ernie talk

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just as I memorize the albums
of pictures on the dresser

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and can speak on them.

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It is clear it is us
the neighbors want,

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not them, the ones
who are coming.

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We drop off handwritten
notes at all the doors

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Ernie has fixed and more, the
ones who have asked for him,

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but can't yet be fit in.

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And we put our potato
chips and tonic

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I find in the basement closet.

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Then we make up a
sheet with surprise

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across it, a twin of the one I'm
making another sundress from.

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All the kids come and watch
what they want on video,

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and all the adults
clutch their last minute

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repairs, small items, like
clocks and candy thermometers.

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And the man with the new
blinking electric eye

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brings the liquor that
goes with the tonic.

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Then the driveway
is parked full,

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and the car that stops
across the street

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and the bewildered
couple who slam it shut

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are the right ones to greet
the silence of the hidden crowd

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with the banners unfurling
welcome home cousin

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and, of course, our surprise.

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But we don't see it.

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Me and my gloves from wiping
down doorknobs and Ernie

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with the suitcases
still quite light

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settled on the
street with his hand

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out for the taxi
that is sure to come.

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Just the dog doesn't want to."

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Thank you.

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[APPLAUSE]

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