Not Just Tikun

"For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time." Elie Wiesel in his Memoir "NIGHT"

On a daily basis, I see a plethora of Facebook post (more like rants) about this social injustice and that social injustice. For the most part, I find the majority of them off putting, divisive and unnecessary. What's that expression about opinions and a$$holes? Oh right, everybody has one and they all stink. This onslaught of posts and pseudo-op-eds has been one of the factors in my reluctance to share my thoughts over the last 2 years. However, today is not a day for me to remain silent. Tonight is Yom Hashoah, the day set aside for the remembrance of the Holocaust. I heard an interesting factoid yesterday. There are less than 30,000 Holocaust survivors alive in the NY metropolitan area today. I suppose that it is a remarkable thing that these individuals who survived the horrors and the atrocities of the camps, all in their late 80' or 90's, are still here to tell their stories. To remind us with first hand accounts that we must never forget. The sad but obvious truth is that in the very near future, they will all be gone. Holocaust denial will only grow stronger when there is no one left to remind the World of the evil that befell our people. Growing up, the idea of Tikun Olam, loosely understood as repairing the World, was often tied into the Holocaust. It was our responsibility to help not just our community , but all of Mankind, to move past that awful time in history. Not to forget, but to repair, to grow, to move beyond, to be better. Today, I don't see my responsibility the same way. It's not my job to repair this world. No, my responsibility is to make sure I ,and my generation, makes sure that future generations, never forgets. Soon, the survivors will all be gone. I, no we, can never allow for their stories to disappear. It is our obligation to Keep Telling their Stories!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

We're Just Not Ready

To say "too busy" is merely to say "confused priorities." Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When I write, I try to keep my political and social leanings to myself. It's no great secret that I tend to be conservative in my thoughts and life style. While change is inevitable, I am a strong believer in evolution over revolution. This has certainly been clearly evidenced by my experiences of the last few days. Last Friday, we discovered that we had a gas leak in our house. At 5:15 Friday afternoon, as we approached the holiday weekend, PSE&G shut off our gas. We were "red flagged" until we could get a plumber in t fix the problem. It was, as I said, a holiday weekend. Any plumber would regard this as an "emergency" call and charge accordingly , if we could even get them to come out. In any case, PSE&G would not be able to turn us back on until Late Monday at the earliest. We chose to wait out the holiday weekend and get a plumber in on Monday. Without boring you with the details of the how's and why's of this ordeal, we were without heat, hot water ,a stove or an oven for 6 days. No heat, no showers, no cooked food. Being Passover, eating out of course was not an option. The bottom line take away for me was that while I am a big proponent of renewable energy sources and certainly am always in support of caring for the environment, we as a society, are just not ready to live without gas. Obviously for a one week period, switching all of my appliances over to electric would not have been feasible. However, even in the long run, the cost to upgrade my existing home would conservatively be in the 10's of thousands of dollars. No one I know can afford that kind of an investment. Evolution, not revolution. A sound reliable plan, not The Green New Deal. Incremental changes are monumental changes. If we have learned anything this weekend, or over the last 2 years, we just can't turn off the gas and expect to lead the lives we have worked so hard to build for ourselves.

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

Forever Friend

“It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute... that gives meaning to our lives.” Tony Robbins

The other day, I reached out to a dear friend from high school to wish her a happy birthday. In her response, she called me a "Forever Friend". Never have 2 words rung more true. I have often heard the acronym BFF used when referring to really close friends. Best Friends Forever. It's a generational thing I suppose. BFF was not a phrase I heard or used growing up. Forever Friend. Now that sums up our friendship. We don't see each other very often. We certainly don't socialize or share a group of common friends. But we have been friends for over 50 years! And when we see each other , or speak to each other or text or email each other, it reinforces that friendship forged so many years ago. We have been and will always be forever friends. Forever friends is different than friends forever. Don't ask me what exactly that difference is, I just know that it is. My heart lets me know whenever I meet up with or hear from a forever friend. The best description is a warm ache. It's a great term, Forever Friend. Just saying it evokes that warm ache. I cherish this Forever Friend. I cherish all of my Forever Friends. BFF's? Not so much. Forever Friends....WOW!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

 

Expiration Date!

."Motivation will almost always beat mere talent."   Norman R. Augustine

In the grocery stores, all of the products come with expiration dates or "Best By" dates. In either case, it is put there to remind us that at a certain point ,this product is not as fresh as it once was, maybe not as effective as it once was, and certainly at some time in the near future should be replaced. Lately, I am feeling that I need to check my own "best by" date. It's not as if I am no longer useful, effective or viable. I just get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, my freshness or potency may not be what it once was. It's a weird feeling. I see others my age who spend there days regurgitating tales of days and times gone by with anyone one who will listen to them. That's not who I am. I still go to work every day, and I mean every day. I still feel useful and effective. I think I still contribute. Yet more often than I care for, my beliefs, my way of being, my values just don't seem appropriate in the world I find myself living in. This is what leads me to question whether I may have outlived my shelf life. One thing I am certain of, there will be no going back to the "good old days" or for that matter, the values that came with those times. For better or worse, the world has changed and the one that I grew up in is gone forever. I use the phrase "for better or for worse" without judgement. Far be it from me to put my thumb on that scale. I know what I am comfortable with, however, that doesn't mean my way is the right way. I just know that way too often in today's world I find my values and beliefs at odds with what is considered the norm of today. Maybe the yoke of my life experiences has me becoming stale, past my best by time. One thing I am certain of is that it's making me a bit uncomfortable, and that saddens me.

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 

A Win for the Home Team!

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."   Martin Luther King Jr.

The last time the Giants won a playoff game was in 2011. Yesterday, I watched the game with the same core group I did back then. In 2011, our game day refreshments included a couple of pounds of pounds of pastrami, a mountain of chicken wings, a crock pot full of chili and an array of chips and dips, enough for a small army. On Game day in 2011, I would don my 3x Giants hoody and a pair of sweatpants. Although warm and comfortable it was anything but fashionable. Sweat pants and a hoodie were my common dress in those days. 11 years later, I still have that sweatshirt. I wear it occasionally when I am feeling a bit lazy and have no concern as to how my clothes look on me. It fits me like a large tent nowadays. Rarely will you catch me wearing sweats out in public anymore. 2011 was over 130 pounds ago. Although nowhere near my ideal weight goal today, this sweatshirt reminds me of just how bad things once were and how much things have changed. We still had chili yesterday, albeit a vegan version served without the rice. I didn't wear my 3X tent to watch the game. It's not a "tradition" I need to keep alive. It is a reminder of where I once was, how far I have come and how much I can accomplish when I set my mind in the right direction. The Giants team of yesteryear has now been replaced by a newer version. So it is with the giant who once wore that 3X hoody. A newer version of the old me. Exciting times ahead once again!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

Change is Inevitable

 

I attended my first Halloween Show in March of 1996. Walking into the Rosemont Convention Center was overwhelming to say the least. At the time, I had no idea of the magnitude of this event. Row upon row of vendors, each one with multiple booths, spanning the length and width of the entire facility. Enormous barely describes what I experienced that day. In 1996, this show was dominated by independent and regional retailers, looking for the latest and greatest of what the manufacturers had to offer. Over the next few years, the show grew even bigger as did my opportunity in this industry. Happily I found my niche helping new manufacturers gain entry into the Halloween marketplace. Year after year, my team grew and grew. The Vasa Sales army would show up with a dozen helpers not including the nation wide network of independent sales reps that I cobbled together into what was at the time unprecedented in the industry. Alas, change is inevitable. Nothing lasts forever. Large national chains started acquiring smaller regional stores. 1 or 2 buyers now controlled what 15 or 20 once did. Independent retailers found themselves struggling mightily to hang on. Change was upon us. Like any good rollercoaster ride, the uphill climb would eventually lead to the whirlwind down hill race. All I could do was hold on tight and hope to not get thrown off the ride. In the end, that ride eventually came to a halt and I found myself sitting in a motionless car. The opportunities once afforded to me were gone. The ride was over. It was time to move on to the next ride. Yesterday was day 1 of this year's smaller version of what once was "The Greatest Show on Earth". The industry, and the Halloween show itself has survived albeit in a much contracted version of it's former self. Do I regret not being there? Not in the least. Do I miss the glory days of times gone by? Absolutely! More importantly, I am glad I had the foresight to realize what was changing around me and adjusted my presence on that landscape. Change is good! Painful at times but always a good thing!

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023

 "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."

 

Robert F. Kennedy

The start of week #2 of the new year. As I intimated in a post last week, 2023 has begun with a "quiet" start. And I don't mean in a good way. As I do every Sunday morning, I ran numbers for the week today. As expected, they were less than stellar. As this is the beginning of the second full year of being open, I now have the ability to look back and compare week to week year to year. No surprise when I looked grooming was down (significantly) and retail was up(pleasantly). In the end, week to week comparisons were basically flat which I suppose one could consider a god thing. One could consider not losing ground a positive. I am not "one". Moving forward does not mean walking in place. It gets me no where! The good news is, not having fallen backwards leaves me in a position to build with out having to recapture what ever ground we may have lost. Goals, or more appropriately, targets I had set for 2022 fell way short. The only real choice for moving forward is to reset. I can't magically just get to where I had hoped to be. Bemoaning shortfalls is an absolute waste of time, energy and resources. My focus is now on reevaluating and establishing new progress markers. These missed goals are by no means any kind of failure on my part. There are no coulda, woulda, shoulda's here. What is here is the opportunity to make some course corrections and add whatever is needed to my tool bag to make the positive changes I am looking for. Simple enough! I have no time to dwell in the cursed house of woe is me, other wise known as loserville. You have to love the fact that there are always lessons, and always opportunities to grow! Pretty cool huh! Shavua Tov! (which is how we say "have a good week!")

Keep Telling the Stories! 2023