Paul Bass Photo
Groom at work in the Whalley Stop & Shop lot.
Bruce Groom plans to divide his Thanksgiving Day between Stop & Shop and the Veterans Administration hospital.
Groom, 66, works full-time at the Whalley Avenue supermarket retrieving shopping carts from the parking lot. He has had a job at the VA since 2018 as a housekeeper.
He doesn’t mind reporting to two different jobs on a holiday. It beats reporting to prison, which he did for years until staying straight for the past 20 years, he said.
“For me to stay out of trouble, I’d rather work and do something positive,” Groom said during a conversation Wednesday morning on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.
But, he added, “I need my car back.”
Groom commutes to his jobs from West Haven. The other day, another driver drove into his 2018 Nissan Altima. The car was towed. Now he’s trying to navigate his insurance company bureaucracy.
The company agreed to reimburse him $300 for a three-day rental. So he rented the Malibu that enabled him to get to work on Wednesday.
But his company is telling him it will pay only for a “patch job” on his car. He said it needs more extensive work.
Meanwhile, the other driver’s insurance company “is not acknowledging the fact that he hit me.”
So in between his two jobs, he’s wrestling with insurance company phone hell. He’s hoping at least to get an extension on the rental car.
Broom is also wrestling with the government bureaucracy. He’s seeking a pardon to clear his record.
“There’s a lot of things I don’t know how to do. ‘Get in touch with people.’ …. A lot of people don’t know everything. I’m one of those people.”
He was asked about his menu plans for Thanksgiving dinner.
“I work at Stop & Shop,” he responded. “Get a pack of hot dogs, bread, soda, I’m good. I’m just thankful to live another day! It’s not all about the food. It’s about living, being able to live another day. For me. Because of all the stuff I’ve seen over the years.”
Click on the video to watch the full conversation with Bruce Groom on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program. Click here to subscribe to WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” and here to subscribe to other WNHH programs.
