“2) It is the PERFECT excuse for turning stuff down. "Sounds great but I CAN'T because I'm in a small room built into a church FOR LIFE. Tell the Cirque de Soleil performers I think they're VERY talented." OMG, Aharon hit it out of the park with that one!!!
“…a special page devoted to “Police Day” —though isn’t every day Police Day in Singapore?... It almost makes me feel grateful for the prosaic tone of the NYPD home page, which is currently advertising for school crossing guards…” We never appreciate how good we have it!!
“An hour in, he cranked up the music (pop, reggaeton) to get motivated and started rolling.” It is comforting to realize that the day begins the same way across the spectrum, from Neurosurgeons to prolific Bagel-Rollers!
"Do you ever go outside during your shift?" I asked. “No,” he said, "it's like you're in jail! Sometimes I call my wife, my dad, my mom. My bosses come down and talk to me, so there's some interaction throughout the day, but mostly I'm here alone." MY GAWD, ANNE!! Alex is a bagel-rolling ANCHORITE!!
“After earning a three-year college degree in business administration, he moved right back to Woodside, Queens and landed a job at a bagel shop in Astoria—” Which confirms the advice I gave both of my sons in junior high…YOU DON’T NEED TO GO TO COLLEGE, especially for 4 or more years…you can get a two-year degree or learn a trade (one son is making over $100,000/year on a two year degree as a Power Plant Operator, while not having a PhD and seating people at Cheesecake Factory while carrying $300,000 in school loans; and the youngest, while making a bit less, is VERY FULFILLED as an in-demand, highly skilled, welder, who has job security for the rest of his life…just like Alex has! Neither are anchorites.
"What?" I said. "On top of working 100 hours a week as a bagel roller, you own a Thai restaurant?" WOW!!! Gawd bless him!!!
"Was that the first time you met her?" I asked. “When you got married?" "The day I gave her the ring!" he said…” Of course a story: When I was in 8th grade, my mother’s father, an immigrant from Romania (really Macedonia…I carry the genes of Alexander the Great..I’m sure of it, LOL!!), called our house, I picked up the phone and he told me that he had arranged a marriage for me with the daughter of a Greek businessman, whom he worked for…I told him, “But Tutta, I’m only in 8th grade!” and he said it didn’t matter because we’d be married when I turned 16, so I had time to sow my wild oats…Since the divorce rate in this country is over 60%, (and I’m divorced from my 1st wife), I for one think Alex in onto something! His wife is stunning!
“We gazed at my sorry-looking initial efforts.” Anne they’ll look better boiled and baked! Did you ever see a newborn? My oldest looked like E.T. when he arrived.
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