Ribbons and Bows

Submitted by bmarcus on
A large Hires Root Beer soda dispenser blocked my view of 42nd Street in Manhattan where I worked in the F.W. Woolworth 5¢ and 10¢ store.  I remember the smells from the lunch counter.  I was stationed behind the ribbon counter next to the luncheon section of the store.  I was fifteen and this was my first summer job.  It was at the beginning of World War II and bows were wired to combs and were very popular.  We all wore them in our hair, young girls and older women, to keep up our spirits during those early years of the war.

 

My Backyard

Submitted by bmarcus on

Behind the Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens where I live, I enjoy the view from my 10th floor window of the changing seasons.

On The Threshold of Life

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My dreams as a teenager were abruptly shattered when, in March l939, Czechoslovakia,a small country of 15 million, was occupied by mammoth Germany. To play out “David and Goliath” was out of the question. A month later, Hitler delivered a victory speech from the Prague Castle to a huge welcoming crowd of people shouting “Heil Hitler” and “Sieg Heil”. His admirers were the German-speaking former Czechoslovak citizens who lived in the borderland, referred to as “Sudetenland”, which had been annexed to Germany six months earlier.

The Toilet Wars

Submitted by bmarcus on
Hey landlord, hey super
The harassment that you both provoked in me
The tables have turned and it is my turn now
So get the toilet fixed, not say it’s my fault
The service you are required by law is the issue
Not a fairy tale that you decided against me
Beware of what you say and do that it’s my fault and I should pay
Do not play games that will work against you
Harassment is the issue
Too bad, too late, flush you
This’ll be fun
Housing Court, here I come.

Cowboys, Candy, and The Holiday Season

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At last it was the season I’d waited for.  I can remember counting the long hard days as well as the slow summer months that I felt would never end, by magic autumn was here full of color and

The Hypotenuse Shortcut

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It was a late afternoon in June, and yet another sudden thunderstorm had just ended. The schoolyard in back of P.S. 139 was usually filled with kids, but now I was the only person there. The square-shaped schoolyard is probably about one hundred feet on each side, and the two entrances, one on each street, almost form a diagonal, the hypotenuse, they call it in geometry, that line of a triangle opposite the right angle.

Miriam Finds Her Place

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Miriam, a tall, graceful, physically beautiful young sixteen-year old girl, was very attractive to her classmates.  She was skillful in accenting her long lashes with mascara which made her light brown eyes startlingly lovely.  She was always meticulously groomed, her skin velvety and flawless, her lips rosy and soft looking.  Her nails were done regularly by her mother’s manicurist.

When Cats Meow

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It all started when Rufus Hareball lost his job and moved in with us. He had been working for the International Pet Patrol agency and was the best detective in the Feline Search Patrol Unit. Pet owners no longer needed the services of I.P.P.  Micro chips now locate the strays and reunite the lost with the distraught.

And The Little Dog Barked

Submitted by bmarcus on

The year was 1976. It was a hot and humid August evening.  As I climbed up the subway stairs in Downtown,there was a fine drizzle in the air.  I was on my home from my job in Manhattan.  As soon as I opened the door to my little efficiency apartment, my four cats and little poodle, Babette, came running to greet me. They were always so happy when I came home.

My Favorite Toy

Submitted by bmarcus on
My favorite toy as a child was the little door underneath our kitchen window.  It was about twenty by twenty inches. When you opened the door there were holes that brought in the outside air.  Probably its original purpose was to store perishables, but to me it was my jukebox.

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