Volume IV
There are four exclamations that will wrap up the story on He, She, They Said That?! They come from widely varied sources. The first one is about a preacher in New Providence, New Jersey and the owner of a filling station/garage across the street.
My recollection is that in 1956, there was an uprising in Hungary which caused many refugees. Apparently the Presbyterian Church had volunteered to sponsor some of the refugees and brought them to this country. The pastor at the Presbyterian Church was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He went to Carl Fisher who owned the garage/filling station to see if he could find work for this Hungarian refugee who said that he was an auto mechanic. Remember that Carl Fisher shared my views on life and religion. Carl listened politely to the preacher as he made his pitch to find work for the Hungarian refugee. At the end, Carl said, “That is very interesting. But we don’t get many Hungarian cars in here.” In spite of the dearth of Hungarian cars in New Providence, New Jersey, Carl Fisher hired the refugee.
Whether he was a qualified automobile mechanic is one thing. But it is clear that the Hungarian was a lover. On two or three occasions, he attempted to declare his love for customers at Fisher’s garage. Carl thought that was funny and in the end told him that he should spend more time working on cars than on females. The refugee/auto mechanic told Carl Fisher that while he was talking to the women who came into his garage, the refugee was, in polite terms, making love. I guess in retrospect, there is nothing wrong with a mechanic who also is a maker of love. Carl Fisher grew to like the Hungarian, as I did as well.
There is one more incident that I would be remiss in not repeating. In the last half of the 1960s, I spent nearly four years in Washington as a lobbyist for AT&T. During three of those years, I made arrangements to purchase season tickets to the home games of the Washington Redskins football team. As many of you know, in Washington during the fall, Redskin fever is at a high pitch. I am not much of a football fan but I used my expense account as a lobbyist to invite government officials to attend the games with me on Sunday afternoons. The games were played in Griffith Stadium, which was a baseball park dating back to the 1940s. The football team had a gridiron laid out on the baseball surface, which was not ideal but got the job done.
My tickets were close to one of the side lines near the end zone. There was also a buxom female who probably weighed at least 175 pounds who had seats near mine. This buxom female also had lungs made of leather. When she shouted, the players and the spectators could hear her with no loss of fidelity.
On this one occasion, there was a dispute about whether a Redskin runner had achieved the necessary ten yards for a first down. It was a crucial time in the game. When the referee told the side judges that he wished to measure whether the player had really reached the ten yard mark, the so-called chain gang came onto the field. They carried a chain that is exactly ten yards in length. It is anchored by two posts, one at each end. When the referee signaled to the side judge that he wanted to have a measurement, the buxom female had a fit. In a loud stentorian voice, the leather-lunged black female shouted, “Don’t f… around with that measurin’ s..t! He made it!” The players and the referees heard her voice and were laughing as they measured for the first down. As it turned out, the Redskin runner had indeed made a first down so the buxom female must have known something that the rest of us were just plainly guessing at.
There are also two other incidents that will complete the fourth volume of HE, SHE, THEY SAID THAT? Both of these quotations came from the workers in the produce department at Whole Foods Market. I apologize because they are self laudatory to old Ezra.
The first came from Sammy, a younger man in the produce department. This incident happened long before anyone ever knew about Barack Obama. Sammy said to me that “If you ever go into politics and get elected to be our president, you will be the second black president that we have had.” He was referring, of course, to Bill Clinton whom black people called their first black president. I was flattered by Sammy’s belief in my political future and his belief in my friendship for black people. But I elected to stay with my day job.
The second laudatory quotation came from Paul Byfield. He came from Kingston, Jamaica and has always identified himself as a black man.
Another worker at Whole Foods had had a major traffic accident that required a jaws of life to get him out of his car. Whole Foods and Tariq, the man who had the accident, wanted as little publicity as possible. Paul Byfield said that he was telling me about the accident because, “You are family.” Again, I was flattered to be considered as a member of this black family.
So this finally completes my thoughts about “He She They Said That?”, all four volumes. As it turns out, my life has been enlivened by the remarks that I have overheard, including those directed directly at me, such as “You don’t get paid to think.” In retrospect, I think about those remarks and have a soft giggle to myself. That makes it all worthwhile.
E. E. CARR
November 10, 2010
Essay 503(?) I think something is off with my numbering for this one, but this fits best with the other 3
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Kevin’s commentary: There’s not much to say on this one that haven’t been said on the other three; I just really liked this series. Cheers!