Reaching for Smoke

This was a very unusual story. I think I never really got to figuring it all out. As I have begun to notice, Carver's stories rarely have a point, but they all seem to hold some kind of meaning beyond what we allow ourselves to believe. As in Chef's House, it seems like the husband is the one who's in need, the one who has a problem. While Wes was an alcoholic, Sandy's husband is unemployed and does nothing but sit around all day on a couch, staring at the TV, wasting away his life. This story seemed to shift around quite a bit. From Sandy's preocupation for her husband, to the damaged fridge and thawed food, to the meaning of auctions, I thought it all held what was merely a thread of connection, but it all brought me once again to the same question. What is Carver trying to tell the reader? Does it really mean anything or is it all sygnifying nothing? I wonder if this is really the point of his stories. That they are meaningless. That there is no point at all. Yet I believe his stories require far more depth of thought than I am able to provide. I feel there is more to them than I think, yet I am not able to grasp it. Its as if I tried to catch smoke with my bare hand, looking for meaning where there seems to be none.