Down Memory Lane: JOHN

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By Joyce Caughron Rhodes
Special to the Banner

Do you ever just close your eyes and let your mind drift back into your past? You relax, let your memory take over, then suddenly a past event pops into your thoughts, as strong as the trees that defy the angry wind and some are as gentle as the sounds of night gracing the world. For some reason, I thought of my Daddy’s, sister’s husband, John.
John’s parents came from Russia to New York, in separate ships, not knowing each other at the time. In John’s adult life, he was a Dispatcher for the Police Department in Toledo, Ohio. He was always very close with his money and looking for the best bargains. I think this was from his childhood upbringing. He knew the places that had the best grocery and gas prices and which mechanic did the best work for the cheapest fee.
Once, when we were visiting them, in Phoenix, Az. the thermostat was set very high. It must have been a 100 degrees outside and 90 degrees in the house. Harry Lee walked by and turned the temperature down and it did start to feel better, but the next thing we knew, John had it turned back up. I think John thought his wife, Carlene was making the change, so this went on till bedtime.
While we were there, they wanted to take us out to some real nice restaurant. We enjoyed a good meal and John cleaned his plate. I believe his mother taught him to do this. Afterward, Harry Lee told John, “I’ll get the check.” John whispered to Harry Lee, “Okay, but don’t let Carlene know.”
The one that really stands out in my mind was when John and Carlene were visiting my Momma and Daddy. They all went to some grocery store in Union City. John picked up a 5 lb. bag of potatoes and said, “This isn’t right. There’s not 5 lbs. in here.” He walked to the scales and he was right, there wasn’t 5 lbs. in the bag. He walked up to the clerk and said, “This sack doesn’t have 5 lbs. of potatoes. Will you open this up and put in another potato so it will be 5 lbs.?” The clerk looked at him like he could hardly believe what he was hearing and put another potato in the sack. My Daddy, the quiet kind, that never liked to cause any ripples, just looked like he could have gone through the floor. His face turned red with embarrassment and could hardly wait to get out of the store. John, I think, realized this bothered Daddy and he said, “You just have to watch things like this. More people need to say something when this happens, or things will never get better.”
Sometimes, when things don’t seem like what they should be, we need to use our judgment, the circumstances and surroundings and decide how to handle it. For example: could the potatoes have lost some of their moisture? I don’t think John thought of this! Just food for thought. Not everything is as it appears and not everyone is out to cheat us.

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