Vitamins (short story)  "Vitamins" is a short story by American author Raymond Carver. It was originally published in 1984, in his collection titled "Cathedral." "Vitamins" begins with an unnamed male narrator telling the story of how his wife starts a home business selling vitamins. His wife Patti starts selling vitamins because she wants a job for her self-respect. Patti takes her job very seriously and she feels hurt when girls quit on her. One night one of her employees, a girl named Sheila makes a pass at Patti by telling her she loves Patti. Then she grabs Patti's breast. Patti tells her she "doesn’t swing that way", but says that she loves Sheila, just not in the way Sheila loves her. After that incident, the narrator describes a party that he and Patti hold for all of Patti's employees. The vitamin business was not doing as well as before so Patti holds a party to cheer all her employees up. All the girls are dancing with other girls, but the narrator dances with a girl named Donna. Sheila is the first person to get drunk and pass out. The narrator and Patti move Sheila's sleeping body out onto the porch and they forget about her. The party winds down and the narrator makes attempts to have sex with Donna. Donna tells him not now and she leaves the party. Sheila wakes up and walks into the house. After complaining, she asks the narrator where Patti is and that Patti has to take her to the hospital. The narrator says that Patti is asleep and he kicks Sheila out of the house. The next morning Patti asks the narrator where Sheila is and he tells her that she went to Portland. Patti complains of dreaming of vitamins and that her life is becoming consumed by vitamins. A couple of days after the party the narrator invites Donna to a bar called the Off-Broadway for a drink. He describes it as a "spade" bar. While there, a man named Benny approaches them. Benny walks over with his friend Nelson, a veteran of Vietnam who has just arrived home. Nelson jokes about how Donna and the narrator are not married and that they must be good friends. To tease them, he pulls out a box with a cut off ear from a Vietnamese soldier. Khaki, the owner of the bar walks over asks if everything is alright. Benny assures him that everything is fine. Nelson then offers Donna a couple hundred dollars to 'French' him (perform oral sex).