" Your behavior is based upon your feelings, which are based on your thoughts. So the thing to work on is not to change your behavior, but those things inside of your consciousness that we call thoughts. Once your thoughts reflect what you genuinely want to be, the appropriate emotions and the consequent behavior will flow automatically. Believe it, and you will see it!"
~ Dr. Wayne Dyer (You'll See It When You Believe It)
When I was a kid growing up in Paramus,I lived on Diaz Place.
Our street had a big dog legged curve which broke and straightened out right in front of my house.The curve in the street served as the hang out for all who lived there,adults and kids alike.We rode our bikes and played football in the street.
Because of the curve,Desantis' house across the street had a huge side yard across from our front yard making this area the perfect spot for curb ball.
The telephone pole between the O'keefe's house and the McSweeney's house had a single section of split rail fencing which served as home base for all sorts of games like tag and Ispy as well as a perfect spot to just hang out.
It was a great place to grow up.
At the North end of the block lived Mr. DeLuca.
Invariably at the most strategic moment in what ever game we were involved in , Mr. DeLuca would call one of us over,pull out a dollar and send us out to the highway to fetch a pack of smokes.
Cigarettes cost .95 cents in those days.
Being the big sport that he was, he would add that we could keep the nickel.
I have always remembered how angry this made us.
A freakin' nickel!
Are you kidding?
Atomic fireballs cost 2 cents at Stewart's Root Beer stand.
We could get 3 for a nickel depending on who was behind the counter.
A slice of pizza was 15 cents. It took weeks to save up for a slice!
What a cheap f#@k!
Or maybe not.
Mr. DeLuca was older than my parents or for that matter most of the parents in the neighborhood.
He had been a young man during the depression and to him, a nickel was a lot of money for a kid.
Sam DeLua had worked hard all of his life.
He had a nice,modest home in a nice neighborhood in a nice middle class, at the time mostly blue collar community.
To Sam, if you saved up your nickels, eventually you would have a dollar.
A whole dollar!
Now you're talking! (A whole pizza was .95 cents!)
It's all a matter of perspective.
Recently, I realized that I have become Sam DeLuca.
When I was trying to hire some local teens to help do some yard work, I had to ask how much strapping hard working 13 year old boys make nowadays.
I thought to myself, if minimum wage is $8.60 an hour,a kid who can't work yet would be thrilled to make $8 cash.
Silly me!
When their mom responded $12 an hour I almost fainted!
Imagine what Mr. D would have done?
He would have had a heart attack!
I certainly did not appreciate Mr. DeLuca's nickel back then.
I sure do appreciate the value that he gave to that nickel.
I also appreciate the life lessons that he and the other adults on Diaz Place gave to us along the way.
It sure was a different time
Shabbat Shalom!
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