CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

Speaking Truth To Power

A man was speaking to a room full of his subordinates, extolling the benefits to be derived from his company’s customers’ purchases of some of the products offered by the department store he represented. I was one of the subordinates in that room, the representative of a crew of artists … Read More

A Day In The Life

I read the news today, oh boy… – The Beatles My granddaughter’s big jogging pram resisted my attempts to bring it into strolling form, but I prevailed against my daughter’s folding and nestling away of the pram’s parts. Wednesday, March 25th was going to be a bright and sunny day, … Read More

Don’t Mash My Grandson

“Dad, you’re gonna have to teach your grandson to drive,” said Lisa, my eldest child. “I know he’s going to drive like you, anyway: hunched over the wheel, hands at 10 and 2, looking right, left, right, right, left, right again and left again before creeping into the intersection.” I … Read More

Hand Jive

This column originally appeared in 2013. C.J. is on vacation with limited WiFi. “You must be a doctor, the way you goin’ after those hands,” a man said to me in the men’s room. The only comfort I could take in his observation is that he was waiting to get … Read More

Echo Chamber

noun: an environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reinforced, and alternative ideas are not considered. My social media feed contains posts from some people who express views that are repugnant to me, and those posts … Read More