Finally Wore My Hand-Painted Shirt

Months ago I did a project with my older grandchildren, or more accurately, I planned one. I came with a bunch of shirts and sweatshirts for myself* and their whole family. Some were even specially bought the occasion. I decided that we would paint/decorate them.

Photo taken by my husband just before I went to bed when I remembered that there was no photo of me in the shirt.

Well, it was a good idea, but only the youngest, age seven 7, was interested or willing to participate. I just came home with one shirt, which wasn't suitable to the winter weather. Yesterday, before getting dressed, I finally took out my iron, which I hadn't touched for at least a decade, and ironed the shirt to "set the paint." Then I wore it. I hope that is got hot enough, or it will wash out when laundered.

I don't know if my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter have ever worn theirs. But I had always liked this shirt and am happy to have hidden the store logo so creatively. There's still some paint for more fabric projects.

*The idea came to me when I was trying to figure out what to do with all the shirts and sweatshirts I had with the "Yafiz" logo from my six years working there. I had returned the one shirt that I had signed for, but nobody wanted or would wear the others.

They Haven't Forgotten Me

It has been well over a year since I stopped working in Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin. I had worked there for just under six years. Besides my two main teaching jobs, that's the longest I've worked anyplace. I'm always meeting people who say I seem familiar, and the reason is that they had first met me or seen me  at Yafiz during those six years.

I can understand why many of my neighbors still think I'm working their. I don't know where they are working either. But the other day when I was paying after my my biweekly shopping trip to Rami Levy, the cashier asked:

"Aren't you working today?"
"No, I haven't worked at Yafiz for over a year." I replied.
"Rally?" She seemed surprised.

I guess I made quite an impression if I haven't been forgotten even by the supermarket staff. They and the customers were more appreciative of my work than the chain's bosses, who don't miss me at all.

Succot, Holiday and Vacation for Some but Not For All

On Jewish Holidays, like Succot, when children are on vacation from school, Jerusalem is one big festival.

Not all the grownups are lucky enough to be on paid vacation. Many stores are open for business, even if just shortened hours. When I worked in Yafiz, we were expected to be at work. It wasn't easy for those with young children, so people like myself ended up with extra hours, though there wasn't any bonus pay.  So, I'd like to remind you to be extra polite and grateful to those who have to work when there are holiday vacation days for most everyone else.

Never Say Never!

It has taken me a few weeks to blog this. I really can't believe what I'm working at, yet, again. After leaving teaching almost ten years ago, I'm back in that difficult, uncomfortable saddle. Yes, I'm back to teaching EFL high school English to boys, weak students, "false starters," according to the still popular euphemism, MLD* or just plain ornery** and disinterested.

Boys like these had been my specialty about fifteen years ago, and recently when I've run into some former students and told them that I've returned to teaching they are my biggest cheerleaders and fans.

No, I'm not back in the same school, where I had taught for over a decade. I'm now teaching in Yeshiva High School Ahavat Chaim, which is in Kochav Hashachar, southeast of Shiloh, and the alma mater of my two sons, who graduated in the second and fourth graduating classes.

Why did I leave my easy job at Yafiz, selling clothes, which I really did enjoy even though the salary was the bare minimum according to law?

There are many reasons, which I can't go into right now. But the main one was that I couldn't sleep well working night shifts. I'm a morning person by nature, and working, getting myself in a "hyper mode" until 9:30pm to deal with customers plus and then having to stay awake and alert until I was home well after 10pm, meant that frequently I couldn't fall asleep until well after midnight.  I was not hired as a night shift worker; it was just to do it "sometimes."

Is teaching EFL here in Israel better today than it was when I agreed to be fired?

To be honest, no! The things that irked me then are worse now. And now there is no, even mildly, convenient way to travel between my home and Kochav Hashachar by public transportation. Every night before teaching I have to call other staff members to arrange a ride. So far, it hasn't rained when I've had to travel, so the mile, kilometer and a half, between my house and the pickup point is a nice morning's walk. Going home also requires similar logistics. But there is one thing I enjoy now, which I didn't have in my former teaching job. The staff I work with now really makes an effort to go out of its way to help me and others. It also helps that my teaching hours are morning and afternoon. In my former school it was only afternoon/evening, I'd finish as late as 7:15pm, and nobody cared if I was stuck waiting an hour for a ride in my direction.

Teaching is a talent I have. I can pretty much teach anything I know and have. I don't mind having to "change a lesson plan" on the spot, because the kids just don't know one of the prerequisites. That's a key for success as a Remedial Teacher.

Because I have to travel when others need to get to work, which is earlier than me most days, I take advantage of the computers in the Teachers Room for my lesson planning. One of the reasons I didn't want to return to teaching is that it can take over your life. I only teach two classes and have very few students.

I don't know if my salary will actually be much better than the one I had gotten from Yafiz, but I did need a change. I also don't plan on doing this very long and told that to the department head. But as we all know, life is full of surprises. May Gd give me the health and humor to continue and succeed.

*Mild Learning Disabled, normal to high IQ suffering from one or various conditions like dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADD, ADHD, poor motivation etc.

**If at first you don't succeed, just give up and disrupt the class so efficiently nobody can learn anything.

Saying Goodbye to Yafiz, Yes, I Quit!

It's hard to believe, but I left my job at Yafiz. I had worked there for almost six years. You can see that in the photo on the right, I am wearing two pairs of glasses. It was during the time when I needed both distance and reading, but I hadn't yet started using multifocals. Now, I can't imagine living without my multifocals. They are a brilliant invention, and I'm among the blessed who didn't suffer any difficulties adjusting to them.

The photos below are of me working in the shoe store, Yafiz's Shoe Department, which is in a small building in the Rami Levy section of Sha'ar Binyamin. I really had fun there. When I wasn't busy with customers, I'd sit by the entrance, which is just across from the Rami Levi exit and say hello to friends, former students and the many, many people I know who shop there. And quite often people who just wanted to say "hello" to me would stop in and end up buying something.

I have a different job now, which will remain unnamed for the time being. Honestly, it deserves a blog post on its own

A New "Toy" From Work, Holiday Gift

In the almost six years I've worked at Yafiz, part of the Rami Levy discount supermarket chain, in Sha'ar Binyamin, I've rarely liked or use or kept the holiday gifts they give twice a year, before Rosh Hashana and Passover. Sometimes I beg my kids to take them, and last Passover I donated it, a good quality cooking pan, to a charity for young couples who don't have the money to buy what they need.

But this time, for Rosh Hashanah, they gave something I didn't have and should have, a simple vacuum cleaner. It's a Sauter Power Stick, but strangely I can't find any mention of it on the internet. I had been counting on that for English instructions...

Many years ago, I had a vacuum cleaner; I don't remember who brought it from America. It was either my mother or mother-in-law. They probably hoped it would make me a better housekeeper. I am one of the world's worst. OK I wouldn't win first prize, just honorable mention... I hardly used it, since I was always afraid that it would gobble up something of value. It's one of those things that ended up in the attic and died a miserable death, like being locked in a tomb.

My husband photographed me unpacking and unwrapping it.

After taking a quick look at the parts, I easily managed to put them together without trying to figure out the instructions, which seemed a lot more difficult.

And then I did some vacuuming...

I'm glad to see that instead of the old bags, this has a plastic container that gets emptied periodically. If anyone knows more about this "toy," please let me know in the comments, thanks.

People Should Pay Compliments, Too...

This is a rant, sorry:

As you know, I work in a store, which is part of a chain, and the chain is part of a very big Israeli retail/discount business, Rami Levy. And I'm going to admit that during the close to six years I've been working here in Yafiz, I've been reported as "nasty" to customers more than once.

It's just too easy for people to find a "higher up" or just call the main office or say a few negative words to someone in the "office" by the Rami Levy cashiers.

Generally the complaints are about my asking that their children stop doing dangerous things like running through the clothes racks. Just the other day a woman, who claimed to know my bosses well, threatened me, because a I had asked her child to stop his shrill whistling in the tiny shoe store where I was attempting to serve/help her and other customers.

After she had finally left, another customer said:

"It's obvious that she doesn't work with the public."

And I replied:

"People love to make formal complaints, but they don't bother to send in official compliments on good service."

That's the truth. On a personal level, people are nice and thank and compliment me, but they don't take it further to the "bosses." So many people find it easier to criticize than compliment. It's the same with parenting and teaching. The negative is emphasized much more than the positive. That's something we should all work on, Gd willing.

Salad Meal on a Budget in The Center of Jerusalem

Yesterday, my friend and I decided that we wanted a simple, low calorie meal. We had just found her the perfect tzni'usdik, modest bathing suit, ok a bit more expensive than the same one would have been in Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin, but close enough to the price, so it wasn't worth traveling there. Yes, the store where I work does have great prices, not only the best over-age saleswoman!!! 

As only good friends could do, we both pointed to the nearby Cafe Ne'eman, on the iconic corner building on Jaffa and King Gorge, where you can get your choice of ready-made salads plus a fresh roll for all of NS24.90. I chose the Tuna and she took one of the White Cheese ones. And we both took the rolls home to freeze for some other occasion, or our husbands...

Even though Downtown Jerusalem was loaded with people, tourists, locals, families etc, the lovely tables for budget diners were empty, and we had our choice as to where to sit.  We could watch all the action on Jaffa Street, while we had a nice, leisurely lunch and chat.

They also have a nice selection of sandwiches, pastries and great coffee. "Fast food" does not always mean greasy and fattening.

Rami Levy at Rami Levi

I was at work yesterday, morning shift for a change, at the Yafiz shoe store when I heard a lot of noise. At first, with my awful hearing, it sounded like a roar. Then I realized that they were saying:

"Rami Levy!"

Yes, the Rami Levi who owns the enormous discount supermarket chain to which Yafiz is connected, was visiting. Now I understood why the pizza/burger place had been scrubbed down earlier in the morning. Unlike a couple of months earlier, when we had been warned to get the store, Yafiz, Clothes and Shoes for the Whole Family, all spruced up because Yafit, his daughter and the owner, and Rami Levy were coming to visit, this time I had no warning. But everything was fine, and he didn't come to us at all. He and Avi Roeh who's head of Mateh Binyamin (the Benjamin District) plus a bit of staff went into the supermarket for a few minutes and then had a meeting in the pizza/burger place.

Rami Levy in profile, Avi Roeh full-face

I have no idea why or what their discussions were about. I was able to shoot these photos on my phone from just outside the shoe store. Yes, we're all the same complex in Sha'ar Binyamin.

Winter has Returned

I must admit that I enjoyed the few warm days we had last week. It was almost like being on vacation... I certainly needed a break from the cold. And it was so nice to turn off the heater and open up doors and windows. But we do need rain, and the rainy winter weather has returned!

At work we hear the rain pounding on the roof, which can be quite unnerving. And while the weather is wintery outside, at work we're busy unpacking summer clothes...

A Chiastic Trip Home

First of all I must give credit to my favorite Tanach, Bible teacher, Yael Ziegler, whose frequent mentions of the chiastic structure of various Biblical stories and passages is the only reason I am familiar with the term.

Chiastic structure, or chiastic pattern, is a literary technique in narrative motifs and other textual passages. An example of chiastic structure would be two ideas, A and B, together with variants A' and B', being presented as A,B,B',A'. Alternative names include ring structure, because the opening and closing 'A' can be viewed as completing a circle, palistrophe,^[1] or symmetric structure. It may be regarded as chiasmus scaled up from clauses to larger units of text.
These often symmetrical patterns are commonly found in ancient literature such as the epic poetry of the Odyssey and theIliad. Various chiastic structures are also seen in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, where biblical writers used it to illustrate or highlight details of particular importance. (Wikipedia)

C.W.Vong

Last night I made an effort to leave work early enough to catch the 9:30pm to Shiloh from Pisgat Zeev in Sha'ar Binyamin. The Rami Levy was pretty empty, and I didn't see any neighbors shopping there. Sunday is a pretty quiet night in general.

I got out on time, before the bus and just as I was calling my husband who may have been on it, a woman stopped and said she was going to Ofra, half way home. I got into her car and thought to myself that I could always catch the bus in Ofra if I don't get a ride first. And when she mentioned that she needed to fill the tank on the way at the gas station at the Psagot/Tel Zion/Kochav Yaakov/Migron Junction I calculated that I'd still have time to catch the bus.

When we got to the gas station she began to honk the horn and explained that she couldn't get out of the car to do it herself. Nobody came out to help her. So I volunteered to go into the store and ask. When I got out of the car, I saw "my bus" already at the stop and knew I'd never make it. We would be in Ofra long after the bus. The worker told me that it's self-service only. I reported back, and she was upset because she was in too much pain to do it herself, and I haven't a clue as how to deal with the gas and hose and all. So, I told her I'd find her help and walked over to the only other car nearby explaining the problem. The driver (male) said he'd be right over. He parked his car, took her credit card, filled the tank and returned the card.

We drove to Ofra talking like old friends, and she blessed me with wishes for a safe and fast ride home, and I blessed her with refuah shleimah, a complete recovery.

I immediately got a ride to the Shiloh Junction and a few minutes after I got off, I got a ride to Shiloh. It ended up not being all the way to my neighborhood. I walked up (literally up the hill) with a very heavy backpack full of shopping, but no ride. When I made it up I was exhausted and could hardly move. Luckily I met a neighbor who kept me company walking me to my house. She volunteered to carry my bag, but I didn't want her to know how heavy it was. I had already done the hard part.

This seemed so much like the Chiastic Structure in that my neighbor helped me, just like I had helped that woman.

• A- I helped the woman
• B- ride from Ofra to Shiloh Junction 
• C- at Shiloh Junction I see the bus already leaving for Eli
• B- ride from Shiloh Junction to Shiloh
• A- neighbor helped me

Keeping "Up to Date"

Here are the ladies dressed for Shavuot (in white)
and Jerusalem Day (in blue and white.)

I've mentioned a few times that at work in Yafiz--Clothing for the Entire Family, Sha'ar Binyamin, I've unofficially taken over as "window-dresser." Since we don't have windows, I dress the manikins instead.

Recent changes in administration have been very supportive of my "hobby," and a couple of weeks ago, one of the "big bosses," remember that we are part of a chain,  met with all of us at a big staff meeting and said how unimpressed he is when passing stores that haven't bothered keeping their signs and decorations up-to-date. Last week, when walking from Jerusalem's "Center" to the Menachem Begin Heritage Center to hear the "debate" between Caroline Glick and Rabbi Riskin, I walked through the very high class Mamilla Mall, and davka there, I saw an out of date sign:

The sign, decorated with leaves reminiscent of a North American autumn, says "Winter Menu," Tafrit Choref." The weather was over 30 degrees Centigrade, close to 100 Fahrenheit. 

Please remember that we are already in early summer here in Israel.

2 Pet Peeves From Your Friendly Saleslady

As you must know by now, I've been working as an ordinary saleswoman in Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin, a medium-sized "clothing for the entire family store" for well over four years.

In the past I worked in stores, even in New York before I got married. But this is the first job like this since cellphones became the norm for all to carry around.

And that is "pet peeve" number one:

Please don't walk into a store shouting or even talking loudly on the phone.
It happens too often that people are in  the middle of a conversation that has nothing to do with what to buy in the store. I know that, because I can hear every word. More often than not, the telephone-talker drowns out the actual customers and staff. We can't work because of the noise. The atmosphere in the store becomes very unpleasant and is dominated by rudeness. And no doubt many of you will mention that it is also a problem when the sales staff is too busy with their own phone-calls to pay attention to customers. I agree. Now that it's the norm for people to have their cellphones with them 24/7, we all have to learn when to keep them quiet.

Please ask; don't just search through the shelves and stock.
When we, the salespeople are serious when we ask if we can help. And even if nobody offered assistance, please don't be shy, ask. We can save you time. We can help you find what you want or save you from uselessly searching. Frequently, people waste time and energy looking for what doesn't exist.

"I want this style shirt in a men's medium."
"Sorry, this is a children's model, and it only goes to size 16."

That conversation frequently is heard after the frustrated customer has made a total mess of the shirts on the shelf. And if you are in one of those stores that has awful staff, then you can take the initiative and ask for help. Hint: many labels have the "size range" printed, which is one of the ways that we salespeople know what sizes can be found.

Happy Shopping!

Window-Shopping and Walking in New York

At Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin, I'm the "window-dresser," though we don't have windows. I dress the manikins. I do my best, but what I achieve is nothing like these gorgeous store windows I photographed in Manhattan less than two weeks ago.

I do believe that nicely dressed/arranged windows can draw in customers.

I must admit that I love walking through Manhattan. I did a lot of walking while there from midtown to the upper west-side and back. I don't even have to shop to enjoy myself.

Safe Walking, Finally a Sidewalk!

One of the worst things about my job in Sha'ar Binyamin was that there was a section between commercial buildings that forced pedestrians to walk with the cars.

It was hard enough for a very careful and lucky adult alone, but I can't imagine how anyone could take young children safely to or from the bus stop, or from Rami Levy or Yafiz or the bakery etc. to the clinic, pharmacy or bus stop.

So, I was overjoyed the other day to see that a sidewalk/ramp was being made there.

All I want to know is:

Why did it take so long?