Do Ya?

We all grew up in this Queens neighborhood back in the 1960’s and like most young teenagers in New York City neighborhoods, we all had something smart to say.  Smart, as in wise cracks, friendly insults and sometimes genuine insight into the human condition.  Things like “the hardest part about doing nothing is you never know when you’re finished” or an actual situation.  A  a guy came into one of our Luncheonettes at closing.  Pulled out a gun.  Put it in the face of the kid working the counter that night Tommy Hsu and said.  “Give me the money.”  Tommy calmly put his index finger on the gun barrel guided it towards the owner Willie Bly and said.  “Point it at him.  He owns the place.”

You get the picture?

Well there was one guy Ed Khammer, nice guy, good ballplayer.  He was also a great ice skater and hockey player.  But not a guy who could come up with wise cracks on the spot.  I think he and his family had come to New York from some place way out in Pennsylvania or maybe Ohio even.  So when everyone would be on the corner cracking wise, Ed really couldn’t join in.  But he did have this one thing he would say and he would say it at the most opportune moment and it was.  “Ya don’t know, do ya’?”  And that could be real funny, so Ed would see everyone laughing and a happy, little smile would form at the corners of his mouth.  He’d found his place on the corner.  So much so, that his little smile would come out just before he’d invoke.  “Ya don’t know do ya?”

We are reminded of Ed because we watch all the Talking Heads, the Know It All’s and The Cognoscenti Of The Known World discuss the current kerfuffle in Iran. And they all do it in their usual fashion, with authoritative and dramatic voices, that makes it seem as if they have it all figured out.  And doing this in spite of the fact or facts, that they have been wrong more times in the past, than anyone could count.  Just check their previous exhortations and of course their polls.  But they are undaunted by previous errors, as they drone on about whatever the current situation is, and they do this without inhaling too much.  But when they do manage to stop, to take a breath, we wish Ed Khammer was there to give that little smile and say.  “Ya don’t know do ya?”

Dicens simile factum est

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