The View from the West Hill: "Typical Jew!!!"

To recap last week's episode: our employee Dan worked in a jewelry store, and the owner said he was not catching on, and asked us to end his assignment. When he came in to pick up his check, we let him know that the assignment was over.

His response:

"That ....that ... that chicken ass! He couldn't even tell me himself. What was the problem? I was doing a good job."

Rachel told him, "well, they said you just weren't catching on."

"Well he's a chicken shit for not telling me himself." Turning to me, "You think that's cowardly, don't you?"

I tried to explain the situation to him, "Well, Dan, a lot of times that's why companies use temporary employees - so they can have us do the dirty work of letting you go. They pay us for that service."

"He could have told me himself. I'd like to go up there and punch him in the nose! Believe me, my temper isn't what it used to be. If I was like I was 5 years ago, I'd go there right now and tear that place a-PART. Chicken shit!"

(He reminded me of the scene near the end of "Scent of a Woman" where Al Pacino delivers his speech about "If I was half the man I was 5 years ago, I'd take a flame thrower to this place. But I'm too old, too tired and too fuckin blind.")

Rachel: "Dan, all he said was you weren't catching on. He said you got along with everyone and you were nice enough, but there's a lot to learn."

Dan: "You know what the problem is? He's one of those old style business owners...he's a... a typical Jew."

Again turning to me, as if I was wearing a Klan hood, "You know what I mean, don't you? A typical Jew."

"Dan, I think the word you're looking for is STEREOtypical Jew," I offered, "It's somewhat erroneous and unfair to impugn an entire ethnic group based on the fact that you got fired. Don't you think?"

After this, Dan left, periodically calling in to ask "Have you talked to John? I at least think he could have told me to my face."

He lost his unemployment hearing because they get a bit jumpy about threats to "tear [anything] apart" or "punch [anyone] in the nose."

He also called once to tell me that he had stopped into the store to drop off some Hanukkah cards, because "they're all nice people. I have no hard feelings." ????

About two months later, Rachel was training a new employee and explaining about our clients and came to the jewelry store. The trainee looked at the list and said "Is that how you spell jewelry?"

I pointed out, "It's spelled just like it sounds: Jew-el-ry. JEW-el-ry." Rachel & I laughed; the new girl just looked at us.

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