Read "A Town is Drowning" by C.M. Kornbluth online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Dick McCue started off like a jet pilot. "What's the hurry? " Mrs. Goudeket demanded. "Better go slow and we'll get there. " She was feeling uneasier than ever; because though she had heard the rain pounding on the house, and seen the rain sluicing down the windows, she hadn't _felt_ the rain until that two-yard dash from the door to the station wagon that had wet her to the skin.
"Sure, Mrs. Goudeket," he said cheerfully, and slowed down -- briefly. Fast, slow -- he could drive that blacktop road down to the highway in his sleep. This was what he liked; something happening. He never would have taken the agency's offer of this job if he'd known it would involve running putting contests for rained-in guests who blamed it all on him. Girls, dances, a chance to sharpen up his game for the all-important Inter-Collegiate Medalist next year -- the agency had made it sound pretty great. Of course, he had a lot to offer, too -- his maidenhead, for instance, as far as the world of golf was concerned; now he was definitely and permanently a pro, and some of the doors in golfing were forever closed to him. Maybe he should have held out for more money.