And Loving It

Today while waiting for the bus outside of work, a young Latino American fellow who had walked over from the community college a mile away (and it turns out, lives a few blocks away from me) asked me about where the bus stops. I was reminded of Nechama's example in class, which she used to explain what pshat - simple meaning of words means. She said that if two people are standing for a while at a bus stop and one turns to the other and says, "It sure is hot, isn't it?" and the other one answers yes, then he's misunderstood the question. We talked. And it was good.


I'm reading Marlo Thomas' new book "and loving it." (Can you identify that reference?) She talks a lot about growing up with "the boys" always being around the house. "The boys" were her fathers entertainment friends, mostly Jewish comedians. (Her father was made an honorary member of a country club that was exclusive in that it only allowed Jews. The final OK had to be granted by Groucho Marks who went along with it but wondered if they had to take in a non-Jew why they couldn't take one who didn't look Jewish.)

She has a piece about how Milton Berle was a guest on That Girl and was very difficult. Marlo (orginally Margot, but as a kid she pronounced it Marlo and it stuck) called her dad. He told her to ask him to do a specific shtick that involved spelling words. She asked. He did it. People laughed. From then on he was easy to work with. Like all boys, and all people, Milton Berle wanted to feel comfortable in his surroundings. Once he was made to feel acknowledged and at home all was fine.


When I read that I remembered that SNL has one episode, the one with Milton Berle, has never been syndicated. Lorne refuses, because he thinks it was that bad. But what Lorne and his kids didn't learn was that they had to make Uncle Milty feel at home if they wanted him to be on and funny.


I'm heading toward sleep, thinking about life. I'm thinking about how human, and sad, it is that we (I) tend to focus on the one person in a thousand that doesn't like us (me) (an estimation, actual numbers may vary). I'm also thinking about how faith feels fluid.

Hold on tight to G-d

There is nothing else to hold

And know He holds you