...And That's My Opinion©

By Sandy Goldman

The Rogers Park Community Curmudgeon

THERE’S A NAKED PERSON IN MY BATHROOM

One of the gifts I received this past Christmas was a Rolodex card/address holder. They come in two kinds. There are the carrousel type and the flat box type. I was given the flat box type. I’m not sure why someone thought to gift me this unusual present. After all even though it was old, my current one worked just fine.

“But,” said my guidance counselor, “It’s over forty years old.”

“You’re over 40,” I protested, “And I don’t get a new you.”

“Right,” she responded, “But I’m neat and presentable and up to date with no frayed corners and my cover isn’t broken off.”

Well, score one for the counselor.

Updating any kind of address book {including those “little black books”) is truly a ride down through memory lane.

Do we still need the veterinarian’s phone number? Our last dog died about 18 years ago.

And here’s an old school chum who was in the chimney business and repaired ours after the tornado ran thru Rogers Park years and years ago. Is he still in business or for that matter still alive? The phone number is wrong anyway.

There are four or five business cards of carnival operators and merchandise purveyors. The last carnival I chaired was in 1982.

I found a multitude of phone numbers of furniture store buyers, which brought back fond memories of days gone by. But would I reach anyone at Polk Bros., Goldblatt Bros., Wieboldts Department Store, or Levitz or John M Smyth. Would those still in business remember that skinny kid who called on them? Better yet would they care?

Here are many dear friends from cards A to card Z who are no longer alive. Their names and memories remain etched in the permanent Rolodex of my mind – I don’t need the cards.

An accumulation of tradesmen – painters, plasterers, electricians, plumbers, refrigeration repairmen, furnace repairmen and on and on. Each person’s name conjured up a specific devastating day. Like the day the entire ceiling is a second-floor bedroom fell to the floor, the result of a thawing frozen pipe in the attic caused by a workman who failed to latch a window in the attic.

Would I be calling Wally Phillips again? I don’t think so.

There was the lady, from whom I used to buy those great imported cigars…but I quit smoking them several years ago. That card brought back a delicious but sad memory. I still miss those cigars.

The list is long:

• Two of my old boss/mentors, both deceased.

• Roberts card shop on Howard Street, gone but not forgotten thanks to my old Rolodex.

• Ditto for Reisler Bros. Pharmacy on Chase Ave and Sheridan Rd. BR4-6477 and the Red-E Cleaners 761-8191 on the corner of Rogers and Ashland Ave.

• Tom and Linda Ponce who formed the musical group “The Happy Days” and played at my 50^th birthday party at My Place For?—now the Gateway Bar and Grill—twenty-three years ago.

• And here’s good old 973-4443, the number of the much lamented Pinewood Inn and AM 2-1228 the never forgotten Pelikan Bar and liquor store at Pratt and Clark Ave.

• A long collection of still living friends who have left the Chicago area and are spread out all around the country. I wonder who is reached at those numbers now?

• Does anyone need the Greyhound Bus Station? I have the station phone number as well as dozens of numbers which begin alphabetically: RO1, RO4, DA8, LA5, BI8, AM2 and BR4.

• Our kids are long gone from Field Grammar School and Sullivan High School. Do I still need the phone numbers? I hope not!! Out go those cards!

• A bunch of architects and doctors and dentists.

• Ah… a collection of politicians’ cards - both friends and foes from long-ago campaigns. Some have moved up the political ladder; some retired; some to other professions; some passed away or are just gone and forgotten.

• The North Shore Bank, the Rogers Park S&L, First Commercial Bank and Devon Bank. Only the latter two are still here in business.

• If I call AM2-0690 will I get Loyola Park? I don’t think so!!

As for the title—it has nothing to do with the story. But it did get your attention—didn’t it?

...And that's my opinion.

And I'm Sandy Goldman

Send me your e-mail address or those of others who would be interested and I'll add them to my rapidly growing distribution list.

To Read other Columns Click Here

To Email Me: smgoldman@ameritech.net