Post by LARRY on Sept 16, 2007 11:38:35 GMT -5
A wonderful story.
The South Bronx in 1950 was the home of a large and thriving community, predominantly Jewish. In the 1950s the Bronx offered synagogues, mikvas, kosherbakeries, and kosher butchers -- all the comforts one would expect from an observant Orthodox Jewish community.
The baby boom of the postwar years happily resulted in many new young Parents. As a matter of course, the South Bronx had its own baby equipmentstore, Sickler's. Sickser's was located on the corner of Westchester and Fox, and specialized in "everything for the baby" as its slogan ran.
The inventory began with cribs, baby carriages, pla ypens, high chairs, changing tables, and toys. It went way beyond these to everything a baby could want or need. Mr. Sickser, assisted by his son-in-law Lou Kirshner, ran aprofitable business out of the needs of the rapidly expanding child population.
The language of the store was primarily Yiddish, but Sickser's was a place where not only Jewish families but also many non-Jewish ones could acquire the necessary for their newly arrived bundles of joy.
Business was particularly busy one spring day, so much so that Mr. Sickser and his son-in-law could not handle the unexpected throng of customers.
Desperate for help, Mr. Sickser ran out of the store and stopped the first youth he spotted on the street "Young man," he panted, "how would you like to make a little extra money? I need some help in the store. You want to work a little?" The tall, lanky black boy flashed a toothy smile back. "Yes, sir, I'd like some work." "Well then, let's get started."
The b oy followed his new employer into the store. Mr. Sickser was immediately impressed with the boy's good manners and demeanor. As the days went by and he came again and again to lend his help, Mr Sickserand Lou both became increasingly impressed with the youth's diligence,punctuality, and readiness to learn. Eventually Mr. Sickser made him a regular employee at the store. It was gratifying to find an employee with an almost soldier-like willingness to perform even the most menial of tasks, and to perform them well.From the age of thirteen until his sophomore year in college, this young manput in from twelve to fifteen hours a week, at 50 to 75 cents an hour. Mostly, he performed general labor: assembling merchandise, unloading trucks and preparing items for shipments. He seemed, in his quiet way, to appreciate not only the steady employment but also the friendly atmosphere Mr. Sickser's store offered.
Mr. Sickser and Lou learned in time about their helper's Jamaic an origins, and he in turn picked up a good deal of Yiddish.
In time the young man was able to converse fairly well with his employers, and more importantly, with a number of the Jewish customers whose English was not fluent At the age of seventeen, the young man, while still working part-time at Sickser's, began his first semester at City College of New York. He fit in just fine with his, for the most part Jewish classmates, hardly surprising, considering that he already knew their ways and their language. But the heavy studying in the engineering and later geology courses he chose proved quite challenging.
The young man would later recall that Sickser's offered the one stable point in his life those days.
In 1993, in his position as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- two years after he guided the American victory over Iraq in the Gulf War,General Colin Powell visited the Holy Land. Upon meeting Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in Jerusalem, he greeted the Israeli with the word "Men kent reden Yiddish" (We can speak Yiddish).
As Shamir, stunned, tried to pull himself together, the current Secretary of State continued chatting in his second-favorite language. Colin Powell never forgot his early days working at Sickser's.
Have a wonderful day.
I looked this up in snopes (http://www.snopes.com/glurge/powell.asp) and this is generally true, though Powell spoke only a spattering of Yiddish, but certainly was not fluent.
The South Bronx in 1950 was the home of a large and thriving community, predominantly Jewish. In the 1950s the Bronx offered synagogues, mikvas, kosherbakeries, and kosher butchers -- all the comforts one would expect from an observant Orthodox Jewish community.
The baby boom of the postwar years happily resulted in many new young Parents. As a matter of course, the South Bronx had its own baby equipmentstore, Sickler's. Sickser's was located on the corner of Westchester and Fox, and specialized in "everything for the baby" as its slogan ran.
The inventory began with cribs, baby carriages, pla ypens, high chairs, changing tables, and toys. It went way beyond these to everything a baby could want or need. Mr. Sickser, assisted by his son-in-law Lou Kirshner, ran aprofitable business out of the needs of the rapidly expanding child population.
The language of the store was primarily Yiddish, but Sickser's was a place where not only Jewish families but also many non-Jewish ones could acquire the necessary for their newly arrived bundles of joy.
Business was particularly busy one spring day, so much so that Mr. Sickser and his son-in-law could not handle the unexpected throng of customers.
Desperate for help, Mr. Sickser ran out of the store and stopped the first youth he spotted on the street "Young man," he panted, "how would you like to make a little extra money? I need some help in the store. You want to work a little?" The tall, lanky black boy flashed a toothy smile back. "Yes, sir, I'd like some work." "Well then, let's get started."
The b oy followed his new employer into the store. Mr. Sickser was immediately impressed with the boy's good manners and demeanor. As the days went by and he came again and again to lend his help, Mr Sickserand Lou both became increasingly impressed with the youth's diligence,punctuality, and readiness to learn. Eventually Mr. Sickser made him a regular employee at the store. It was gratifying to find an employee with an almost soldier-like willingness to perform even the most menial of tasks, and to perform them well.From the age of thirteen until his sophomore year in college, this young manput in from twelve to fifteen hours a week, at 50 to 75 cents an hour. Mostly, he performed general labor: assembling merchandise, unloading trucks and preparing items for shipments. He seemed, in his quiet way, to appreciate not only the steady employment but also the friendly atmosphere Mr. Sickser's store offered.
Mr. Sickser and Lou learned in time about their helper's Jamaic an origins, and he in turn picked up a good deal of Yiddish.
In time the young man was able to converse fairly well with his employers, and more importantly, with a number of the Jewish customers whose English was not fluent At the age of seventeen, the young man, while still working part-time at Sickser's, began his first semester at City College of New York. He fit in just fine with his, for the most part Jewish classmates, hardly surprising, considering that he already knew their ways and their language. But the heavy studying in the engineering and later geology courses he chose proved quite challenging.
The young man would later recall that Sickser's offered the one stable point in his life those days.
In 1993, in his position as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- two years after he guided the American victory over Iraq in the Gulf War,General Colin Powell visited the Holy Land. Upon meeting Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in Jerusalem, he greeted the Israeli with the word "Men kent reden Yiddish" (We can speak Yiddish).
As Shamir, stunned, tried to pull himself together, the current Secretary of State continued chatting in his second-favorite language. Colin Powell never forgot his early days working at Sickser's.
Have a wonderful day.
I looked this up in snopes (http://www.snopes.com/glurge/powell.asp) and this is generally true, though Powell spoke only a spattering of Yiddish, but certainly was not fluent.
