The benefits of old age
I have a friend (sadly, virtual only) by the name of Wanda who is as funny as all get out. She has a blog, and you can't leave there without smiling, or even laughing out loud. This morning her post tickled not only my funny bone, but also my memory. Hey, as we get older, that's not always easy to do!
Anyway, it made me think of an incident that happened when I was back in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Our daughter, Raquel, is a manager at Wendy's. One day we had stopped in there for a quick lunch. A gentleman that we knew quite well was in line ahead of us. He was a little Jewish fellow (Sam) who owned a men's clothing store that had been established by his father before the turn of the century (the 20th one, not the current one). One time, when I was writing an article for a regional magazine about early businesses in Grand Forks, I had called Sam to ask him about the business in the old days. Sam replied, rather in a huff, "Mrs. Smith, just how old do you think I am? I wasn't around then!" I quickly explained that I assumed he had his father talk about it, and he co-operated beautifully after that.
Another time Ivan asked him, in his store, if he could still get a certain Van Heusen shirt like he had found once in Colorado Springs. It had all of the inner seams piped and hidden so they would never fray. Sam took him down the basement and went directly to a shirt that must have been there since not long after the Mayflower landed. Well, not quite that long ago, but the cellophane wrapping was yellow with age. There was a price on it of $3.95. Ivan bought the shirt, and after I bleached it, he wore it for many years.
Anyway, to get back to Wendy's. Sam placed his order, and Raquel rang it up. (Raquel did not know Sam like we did.) He cocked his head to the side and asked Raquel, "Did you give me my senior discount?" Raquel quickly replied, "I thought about it, but I didn't know if you were old enough for it, and I didn't want to embarrass you by asking." She then entered the discount and gave him the new price.
As she went back to get the order, Sam turned to us and said, in a very low voice, "She obviously doesn't know I'm Jewish, does she?"
So, thanks, Wanda, for the laugh and the memory. You can see more on this subject on Wanda's blog here.
Anyway, it made me think of an incident that happened when I was back in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Our daughter, Raquel, is a manager at Wendy's. One day we had stopped in there for a quick lunch. A gentleman that we knew quite well was in line ahead of us. He was a little Jewish fellow (Sam) who owned a men's clothing store that had been established by his father before the turn of the century (the 20th one, not the current one). One time, when I was writing an article for a regional magazine about early businesses in Grand Forks, I had called Sam to ask him about the business in the old days. Sam replied, rather in a huff, "Mrs. Smith, just how old do you think I am? I wasn't around then!" I quickly explained that I assumed he had his father talk about it, and he co-operated beautifully after that.
Another time Ivan asked him, in his store, if he could still get a certain Van Heusen shirt like he had found once in Colorado Springs. It had all of the inner seams piped and hidden so they would never fray. Sam took him down the basement and went directly to a shirt that must have been there since not long after the Mayflower landed. Well, not quite that long ago, but the cellophane wrapping was yellow with age. There was a price on it of $3.95. Ivan bought the shirt, and after I bleached it, he wore it for many years.
Anyway, to get back to Wendy's. Sam placed his order, and Raquel rang it up. (Raquel did not know Sam like we did.) He cocked his head to the side and asked Raquel, "Did you give me my senior discount?" Raquel quickly replied, "I thought about it, but I didn't know if you were old enough for it, and I didn't want to embarrass you by asking." She then entered the discount and gave him the new price.
As she went back to get the order, Sam turned to us and said, in a very low voice, "She obviously doesn't know I'm Jewish, does she?"
So, thanks, Wanda, for the laugh and the memory. You can see more on this subject on Wanda's blog here.
posted by JanetElaineSmith @ 10:57 AM
2 Comments:
At 1:48 AM,
WillowMorningsky said…
Oh, Janet, this is darling! I love it. I want to do this too! I have to figure out how to turn my websites, www.NapkinPoetry.com and
www.WillowsBark.com, into real websites. They have been parked for two years. I have tried over and over to turn them into websites, but it never works. Just so frustrating. But this lovely little saga is prompting me to surge, once again forward with efforts to conquer! Thank you, Janet! Willow
At 6:52 AM,
The Belle in Blue said…
I still have a little while to go before I get a senior discount, but I always check the age limit to see if my husband qualifies. He doesn't think it's funny.
Loved the story, Janet!
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