After a year I was promoted to Assistant Manager at Bytes and Pixels so Brenda and I started talking about getting married, buying a house in town and raising a family. The manager wanted to make District Manger soon so we had hope that our star was on the ascendant and we would have a manager salary and along with income from the trust fund from Grandfather, available next year when I turned twenty-five, we would be in an admirable tax bracket.
Brenda was getting anxious to move on with our plans. She was in her senior year and the class work cut into party time. She was down to one ring in each ear, her clothes were simple slacks and sweatshirts and, most telling of all roots in her hair were showing more. She complained that in my new position I was back to the preppy look and long hours at work meant I had less time to spend with her. “You’re getting to be more like Samuelson only better dressed,” she moaned.
Our business was doing well; people had been upgrading their computers every few years and buying the latest television models. The future looked rosy but then came the recession. Our store was one of more than fifty that might close statewide. Our big box electronics store paled in comparison to the big crates that sold everything. I had hoped our store would be spared but I got a notice that the axe had fallen and the local Bytes and Pixels staff added to the unemployment rate.