That's Life: In which Thursday night cholent is discovered

Issue of June 12, 2009 / 20 Sivan 5769

Dear That’s Life,

Sometimes life is just a series of vignettes that, when strung together, tell of the interesting and often colorful moments that make up your world. For me, more often than not, they arrive in the form of one-liners.

Moment #1

Overheard as a mother and a daughter walk out of the manicurist and join pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk:

“Seriously, Mommy — don’t they know we know they’re talking about us even though they are speaking in Chinese?”

Moment #2

Amid a large crowd, just two people, who were standing right there, seemed to take note of the following exchange:

“Miriam, there is NO way you could be carrying just ONE and NO way you could be due in October,” a woman exclaimed.

Even for me that was a bit much, and I was taken aback. I’m all for being frank but I have started to learn the advantages of filtering. Sometimes, refraining from saying exactly what you’re thinking is quite prudent. Other times, saying exactly what you’re thinking is exactly what the doctor ordered. This was one of those times.

“Wow, Mrs. So-and-So,” I responded, “I really hope for your sake I have something else to write about before my deadline next week.”

Moment #3

Stopping into a pizza store in Borough Park with a friend after paying a shiva call, I stood in front of the display to check out what they had to offer. It was a Thursday night but the store was not that busy and there was a lot to choose from. As I surveyed the different types of pasta, numerous varieties of pizza and an abundance of eggplant Parmesan, something unexpected caught my eye: cholent.

Tugging on my friend’s shirt like a small child, I could not stop laughing and pointing at the crock pots (that were mostly empty, by the way.)  “Look!” I said, not believing my eyes. “They have cholent!” “So?” she responded, as if this was completely normal and I was the nut. “But it’s a pizza store!” I exclaimed.  “Yes,” she replied, “but it’s also Thursday night.”

Unable to understand what it was about Thursday night that made it acceptable to serve cholent, I clung to what I knew to be true, and repeated: “But it’s a PIZZA STORE!”  “But you’re in Borough Park,” she replied, and added, “Honey, you’ve got a lot to learn.”

Clearly I do — and I’ll tell you what I’ve learned: the true sign that the Five Towns really has become Brooklyn will be when our pizza stores begin serving cholent on Thursday nights –– and when we think that’s normal.

MLW