The Moreno Family

      Rafael Moreno just did his job, nothing else. Well, he wasn't all that good at his job, but he showed up on time, he did just enough, he was respectful enough about his shortcomings to survive them, and goofed off at just the right times and just the right ways to not suffer the consequences of it.

     His wife was good with the family money, and always made sure there was something left over after every month. Their savings was growing, even as their family expanded. In five or six years, well, they might have enough to think about owning a home, though Rafael wasn't really sure he wanted to live outside the city bubble, with its work aplenty and public childcare options.

    The neighborhood was dangerous, yes, that was the thing they couldn't change, the kids had to stay home most of the time, yes, they could go out only when they could all go out, and that's why probably, when they time came, they would leave the city bubble, and go out into the suburbs, where the children could run free.

    Rafael just did his job, nothing else.

    He had worked for 16th and Geary Market for Mr. Drummel for many years now, had gotten himself a more than full-time job with reasonable pay and even a decent schedule, getting Sundays and most holidays off. He had never asked for it, Mr. Drummel had just given him more and more of what he wanted the longer he had worked there without any hiccups in his employment.

    Hey, no one was giving Rafael employee of the month. He never sought to learn enough English to help many customers. When you got right down to it, he was pretty lazy. If Mr. Drummel or his buddy Santos didn't tell him to, he'd leave the old stock and just stock the new delivery, right on top of the old product, too, if no one was checking. Yeah, if the store was left to him, it wouldn't function, but, if someone was watching him and directing him, well, he could do enough to be useful.

    And, over the course of time, he learned enough commands to be directed to do the whole job, even though he could never self-direct to do the job himself. But then, he never aspired to run things himself. If this job didn't last, well, then he'd go find another one, and if that didn't last, well, he'd go find another one, and he'd learn to do enough to survive for a good while, and may survive long enough to get treated better just by default, and that was the most he worried about his professional life.

     And not worrying made the rest of his life kind of wonderful.