Fifty Dollars is Fifty Dollars

flickr photo by listentoreason CC BY-NC-SA

With the price of gas and food at an all time high, I thought this would be a timely anecdote. Enjoy:

Morris and his wife Esther went to the state fair every year and every year Morris would say, "Esther, I'd like to ride in that airplane." Esther always replied, "I know Morris, but that airplane ride costs $50, and $50 is $50."

One year Morris and Esther went to the fair and Morris said, "Esther, I'm 85 years old. If I don't ride that airplane I might never get another chance."

Esther replied, "Morris, that airplane ride costs is $50, and $50 is $50."

The pilot overheard them and said, "Folks, I'll make you a deal. I'll take you both up for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say one word, I won't charge you; but if you say one word it's $50."

Morris and Esther agreed and up they went.

The pilot did all kinds of twists and turns, rolls and dives, but not a word was heard. He did all his tricks over again, but still not a word.

When they landed, the pilot turned to Morris and said, "By golly, I did everything I could think of to get you to yell out, but you didn't."

Morris replied, "Well, I was gonna say something when Esther fell out, but $50 is $50.

posted by millie garfield @ 10:17 AM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 12 comments

 
THE GARDENER
My husband was a man of many seasons, first a son and brother, then a husband and father. during World War II, a soldier. After the war a technical writer.

HOBBIES

As the years went by he developed many interests and hobbies - enjoyed playing chess, did a comedy act and would be happy to perform at the drop of a hat, belonged to the Society of American Magicians, was sworn to secrecy and won't even tell his wife how the tricks were done.



At the height of his interest in magic his birthday was coming up, I asked, "what would you like for a birthday gift." One thing he mentioned was some magic tricks, so off I went to a joke shop in Boston. I was planning on spending about $25.00 which in those days was a lot of money. The clerk made some suggestions and what I finally purchased was A LOT OF PAPER!! What I got for my money was some small gadgets and a lot of instructions. Yes, he was happy with his gift!!

VOLUNTEER



For many years he was a volunteer for the National Park Service in Boston. Tourists would come into the office for information about where to go and how to get there. Forget the questions about The Paul Revere House or The State House. what they wanted to know was, "How do I get to "Cheers" and how far away is Filenes Basement."

THE GARDENER



With all the interests my husband had I think gardening was his passion. He could be out in the back yard for hours, planting, weeding, pulling up shrubs, replanting them somewhere else, fertilizing, putting down bark mulch, watering, you name it , he did it!

Every year he would try planting something different but was not always successful. One year he could have gotten the prize for the weirdest cucumbers.

He couldn't wait for May 30 to be able to plant tomatoes, they never disappointed, no matter what type he planted, they were always wonderful. Every year we had a bountiful crop and shared them with neighbors and friends.

I had it easy, all I had to do was go out there and take the tomatoes of the vine.

Memories, memories...

posted by millie garfield @ 3:07 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 14 comments

 
15 MINUTES OF FAME


Frederick Levy interviewed me for his new book:

15 Minutes of Fame, Becoming a Star in the YouTube Revolution.

It was an exciting opportunity. He quoted me exactly!

He used the following selection criteria to pick people to interview for the book:

Personality, Talent, Relate-ability, Uniqueness, Charisma, Energy and Innovation.

That made me feel really great.

I had trouble opening the book's packing material! :-)



The first 10 people who e-mail me with their mailing addresses will get a free copy of "15 Minutes of Fame".



[ If you click this image to email me, in your email, change the " AT " to "@" ]

Visit Frederick's YouTube page:
http://www.youtube.com/FrederickLevy

posted by millie garfield @ 6:38 AM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 18 comments

 
TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS
Now that I've been home a few weeks I have been thinking about how different my life is "here and there."

The Weather



In Florida the weather is better.

Even though it's spring here, it's can be cold and damp. As I'm typing this post I have the heat on!

It's true what they say about sunshine, When it's warm, the bones don't ache! I know that from experience.

Food Shopping



Because I go out to eat out a lot more in Florida, I don't have to go to the market as often or buy that much. Just yesterday I did another big food shopping and shlepping home the groceries was no joke.

The Movies



There are two movie theaters that are a stones through from my condo and one that takes about 15 minutes to get to.

Here in my town I have to travel a good half hour to get to the movies, and to add insult to injury, the price of admission is higher.

Restaurants



I rarely have to travel any distance to get a really good and reasonable meal. If you looked in the yellow pages for a bagel place you could easily find a dozen listings. The same goes for a delicatessen, many are nearby and oh, are they good!! The one problem with the popular places is, there is usually a long wait. The trick is to go there before you are hungry, by the time you are seated you are ready to enjoy that cornbeef on rye or a bowl of chicken noodle soup with a matzo ball!

It's another story here in the north - There is one deli in my area, I have never been there but I have heard it's "just ok." There have been several deli's that have opened and closed, they just don't have "the right stuff."

We do have a coffee shop and a Dunkun Donuts that sell bagels, they are ok but nothing like what is available in Florida.

The Library



It only takes me about 10 minutes to get to the local library. They offer many interesting programs which are held in the
DAYTIME and there is a large parking lot. They are in the process of building a much larger and more modern library which should be ready next winter. It's going to be close by too.

The library that I have in my town offers some interesting programs BUT they are all held in the evening. I remember going there last spring and found the street was not well lit, the sidewalk was irregular and there is no parking lot. That's not for me.

With all that said you would think that I would want to live in Florida all year round but no, home is where the heart is!

posted by millie garfield @ 5:28 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 14 comments

 
THE WATER BEARER AND HIS POTS


In a dynasty long ago, a Chinese water bearer had two large pots. Each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One pot was perfect in every way, and always delivered a full portion of water. The other had a crack in it.

At the end of each long walk from the stream to the bearer's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For many years the bearer made his early morning journey to the stream and home, delivering only one and a half pots of water to his household.

The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, for it delivered a full portion of water with every trip. But the cracked pot felt ashamed of its imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been created to do.

After years of feeling what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one morning by the stream.

"I am so ashamed of myself. Because of this crack in my side, water leaks out of me all the way back to your house and I cannot deliver the water as you hoped."

The bearer said to the pot, "Have you noticed that there are flowers growing near the path, on the side on which I carry you? Because I have always known about your imperfection, I planted seeds on your side of the path. Every day as we walk from the stream to my house, you have watered them. For all these years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my table. If you were not as you are, there would not be this beauty to grace my house."

We are all imperfect, but it's our flaws that make us what we are. One only has to see others for what they are to see how important they are to each of us.

posted by Steve Garfield @ 6:07 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 14 comments