Blue Umbrella Official Thanksgiving_Christmas Issue-1 | Page 9

Christmas M emories
Don't St r in g M e Alon g...
My great grandfather
owned a butcher shop in New
York City during the Great
Depression and World War II. He
constantly had to deal with
rationing and shortages. For a
couple of weeks, my great
grandfather was observing that
the pepperoni rolls were getting
shorter and did not recall selling
pepperoni. He suspected his
employee was taking some
pepperoni home for his family.
He cleverly cut a piece of string to
the size of the pepperoni roll and
placed it behind the counter. He
figured when the pepperoni
shrunk he?d have evidence that
his employee was taking some
pepperoni.
After a week of
observation, my great
grandfather noticed the string in
the pepperoni was the same size;
however, the pepperoni seemed
shorter. Outwitting his employee,
he cut a second piece of string
and kept the second piece of string in his pocket.
Another week passed and my great grandfather
noticed the string behind the counter and the pepperoni
were the same size, but the string in his pocket was
longer. This was the evidence he needed to verify that his
employee was taking the pepperoni.
When my grandfather confronted his employee, the
employee remorsefully admitted to taking the pepperoni.
Since times were difficult, my great grandfather took a
small deduction from his weekly salary. A couple days
before Christmas, my great grandfather told his employee
that he had met the obligation. My great grandfather 's
employee was thankful that his punishment was light and
wished my great grandfather a Merry Christmas.
My great grandfather took the jar where he saved
the money deducted from his employee?s salary and gave
it to his employee. Then, he wished him a Merry
Christmas.
- William M.