Bill's comments below have brought back memories of my years in Wisconsin. After getting in a heated argument with my now ex-husband about the holidays (he insisted Christmas trees were a secular symbol), I decided I wanted to start lighting the Chanukah candles again. Despite the fact that I lived in Madison, which is a pretty liberal town, I had a heck of a time finding Chanukah candles. In DC, where I grew up, you can get them in most drug stores. In Madison, they are scarce. Finally, I went into a shop that just sold candles. I asked them if they sold Chanukah candles, and--success--the woman directed me to the back of the store. "How many do you need?" she asked. Sure enough, there was a bin of loose candles. "Um...don't they come in boxes?" I inquired. Yes, she said, they do, but the store figured they should unbox them in case someone only wanted a few candles. It was pretty funny. I had to explain the whole candle lighting thing to her--that anyone lighting Chanukah candles would, in fact, want exactly as many as are in those boxes. I believe she suspected I was perpetrating a hoax when I made her add 2 plus 3 plus 4....
Of course, this is the same state where I was asked innocently enough by my former mother-in-law: "Do Jews celebrate Easter?" And the place where I learned that "kyke" can be a verb, as in "he kyked hundreds of dollars by overcharging customers."
I'm so glad I live in LA now.
No comments:
Post a Comment