The Old Man, Gershon and the Schvitz by Guest Blogger Saul Lipenholtz

The Core Belief

Today’s guest blog is from dear family friend Saul Lipenholtz. My first memories of the Schvitz and the lectures I got from the Old Man are exactly the same.

Enjoy!

Gershon took me to the Schvitz now and then…I guess from the ages of 11 through 14 I went maybe 10 times. We never went back when I started high school. By that time our relationship consisted of screaming disappointments and contempt, you know, the normal thing. Dad the humble union electrician would sometimes joke around with the guys but mainly kept to himself.

One has to get over shyness and nudity if they are to survive in that environment!  At 11 it takes courage especially when my junk looked so different that everyone else’s. I got over it and it cured me of some shyness for sure.

One time, in one of the cool dark rooms where people would sit in those oversized leather chairs a porno was running …It was a bit to much with my dad sitting there talking crap with a few other guys so I went to the dining room and ordered one ground steak with mushrooms on a sizzling platter and a Vernors.

Yes the neighborhood was a wreck but the cars were never touched I don’t know if that would be true today. On my 16th Birthday, dad took me to a fancy and expensive restaurant in the middle of a bombed out neighborhood. It looked like a hole in the wall from the outside, but inside it was a dark yet sophisticated joint. It was the first time I got to order medallions of beef.

On another note I do remember Aron tried to get Gershon to invest in an quarter game Arcade business. Dad was such a stubborn socialist that your fathers efforts were wasted … but one Saturday I did go with them to scope out the location… maybe it was Ann Arbor?? I didn’t realize it at the time, but Aron was building his empire one quarter at a time with the industrial washer/dryer business. One thing Aron said to me, maybe it was that time or another, something to the effect “Saul. You should stay in school. Go to college and get a degree and earn 70K a year. I’m telling you it’s the best way. I got my education on the street and I’m telling you it’s not the way to go.”  Ha! and thats what happened…my last job I was a couple grand short of 70K… But 70K back when your father told me that was probably 150K in his mind. Oh well…