Who's in the kitchen: Judy Joszef

Filling a beggar’s purse

Posted

I like to think I’m street-smart. Jerry, my husband, is gullible and naive. Whenever asked anything, Jerry never says no, unless it has something to do with me asking him to dress a certain way, then all bets are off. But when it comes to lending a shoulder to lean on, an ear to listen or providing help, Jerry is a softie.

When he was 13, Jerry had a good friend who was always over at his house to watch TV and hang out. His family didn’t have much money and Jerry’s mom had a full kitchen and eating area in the basement as well as a kitchen upstairs. She liked to cook and serve downstairs during the week. When Jerry left to camp for the summer, his friend came by and asked if he could still come by and visit even while Jerry was away. Jerry’s parents, being extremely hospitable (and a bit naive) said “of course.”

When Jerry returned from camp, his friend came by and Jerry was excited to see him. But after high fiving Jerry, he bounded up the steps to watch TV while Jerry ate dinner. Jerry thought it was odd that his friend didn’t want to sit with him after not seeing him for so long, but he didn’t say anything. After all, his friend had been so kind and generous to him for the few weeks before he left for camp. He insisted on treating Jerry to Yankee games and treated him to any ride he wanted at Coney Island, including his favorite, The Cyclone.

On the night that Jerry arrived home from camp, and he was eating downstairs, Jerry realized there was no ketchup. His dad offered to get it as he wanted to get something else as well. When he walked into the kitchen, there was Jerry’s friend with his hand in Jerry’s mom’s pocketbook taking out money. Suddenly it clicked. For months Jerry’s mom had been missing cash, very often. She didn’t remember spending that much money, but she thought she was forgetting. Now it all made sense. It wasn’t really the TV shows he was after. He said he wouldn’t say anything to Jerry or the others, but he wanted the boy to tell his parents and to have them call him. But they never called. Finally he called them and the boy always answered. Eventually he spoke to them and of course they couldn’t afford to pay them back and Jerry’s dad was ok with that, he just wanted the young boy to understand that this was not appropriate behavior.

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