FEATURED JOBS
From time to time, friends (and my wife) make fun of me because in the middle of the workday, I’ll occasionally run down the street and grab a quick lunch at the nearby Blimpie sandwich shop.
It must be something about that silly name – Blimpie—that just sets people off, like some kind of Pavlovian response (but without the mutts).
“Oooooh! Why would someone eat at a place called Blimpie?” a co-worker once asked me, intimating that becoming a great big “blimp” was not an enticing notion to her. (I never said it was gourmet or necessarily diet-friendly cuisine, but what’s in a name?). Another person put down the quality of the food there, even though she admitted that she’d never actually eaten there.
“Hey,” I’ve responded to all of the Doubting Thomases, “don’t dis the Blimp.” (How’s that for an ad slogan?)
Anyway, a very nice, 30-ish Korean lady named Sue owns and operates the local Blimpie. I don’t want to sound too maudlin or cliché-ridden here, but Sue’s one of those hard-working people who always has a smile on her face when you see her and a pleasant word or two for her customers. And you can just tell it’s genuine. During these tough times, a kind smile and friendly greeting go a long way.
Recently, during a slow afternoon, Sue schmoozed with me a little bit about coming here from Seoul at age 15, knowing no English, getting through high school and college (Towson University, with honors), and starting her own business (the Blimpie franchise, which she bought from another Korean entrepreneur). We marveled about how much Jews and Koreans have in common – an almost obsessive concern with family, a respect for tradition and values, an entrepreneurial spirit, a fixation on education, a strong work ethic, a sense of community, etc.
Of course, there are times when I feel like Jews have become so Americanized, so settled, so affluent and complacent, that we’ve lost some aspects of that rugged, new immigrant spirit in which we look after each other (like members of the Korean community tend to do) and try anything to get ahead. In a lot of ways, we’re sterling examples of the American Dream, but where to go from here?
The Koreans are indeed “the New Jews,” and God bless ‘em for doing what they do, but it’s up to us to determine the direction of “the Old Jews.” Of course, regardless of what we do or don’t do, the tough economic times might dictate what that new direction might be. Depending on each other and being more compassionate might have to become our new modus operandi, just to survive in a tough market, like our grandparents did back in the Great Depression. (How many times did your Bubbie tell you about how her mishpacha and friends helped out each other in the ‘30s and ‘40s?)
Sue told me that her kids, who were born here, are not fluent in Korean and are quite Americanized, but she sends them to Korean school, to learn their ancestral mother tongue and remain familiar with the customs (beyond eating kimche). “No matter what,” she said, “I want them to know who they are. It’s important. My generation will never know what my parents’ generation went through, with World War II and the Korean War, but we have to pass all of this onto our children.”
We can learn a lot from Sue and her Korean brothers and sisters.
And like I always say, don’t dis the Blimp.
Comments (3)