1983-1984 Rothberg Yearbook

"A View from the Other Side”
“All I want to do is check the Herald Tribune to see the playoff results ...”
“What do you mean the post office is closed? My girlfriend’s birthday was yesterday, so sending this telegram
now is a matter of life or death.”
“Do you have any birthday cards for ex-boyfriends?”
“Why doesn’t Elite make a dietetic Egozi bar??”
All these and more can be heard on any given day at the Post Office/Card Shop/Newspaper Stand/Candy
Store below the forum. I should know — I work there!
It all started way back in August ’83 just shortly after the store was moved from its former spot next to
Moadon 12% to more spacious accommodations in the University itself. I decided to spend my break from
Ulpan buying stamps and candy. (Eating and writing letters was a more constructive activity than learning
Hebrew!) When I entered the store, I was met by a barrage of people requesting everything fromasimonim
to Vogue magazine. You could hardly move in the place, let alone hear yourself think above the clamour
of impatient buyers. Ruth and Dave Keusch were working feverishly to handle all requests as quickly as
possible. Then — I had a brainstorm! I remembered how Dean Singer had told us at orientation to throw
ourselves into Israeli society in order to get a real “Israel experience” What a great way to integrate myself
into this strange, new culture,’ I thought. So I figured why not give it a shot and ask. I caught Dave’s attention
between stamps and telegrams and told him that I was available to work if he needed help. I thought he was
crazy when, with fifty impatient customers in the store, he looked up at me and said, “No, we don’t need
any help right now — why don’t you check back after vacation?”
Now, after working for the Keusch’s for six months, IVe realized that Dave and Ruth have their business
down to a science. Until you stand behind the counter, you really can’t expect to understand them.
You might be certain that every time you come into the store Dave is in a bad mood. I know Dave as
my boss, who lets me take off to run errands or enjoy an extended weekend out of town. You might think
Ruth has the patience of a New Yorker (which means a lack thereof!) I know Ruth as my adopted mother
who does my laundry and invites me over for dinner. What our customers don’t realize is that in any given
day we service over one thousand people. That may not seem like very many for a nine-hour workday, but
it’s ndt spread evenly into one hundred or so per hour. It’s a few hundred during the fifteen minute break
between classes every two hours. Given that kind of rush, combined with the Israeli characteristic of not
knowing what a line is, it is easy to see how the pressure to serve everyone as quickly as possible can make
for a pressurized atmosphere. You can also add to that, the North American arrogance that turns a mildmannered
OYP student into a blood-thirsty animal just because their monthly ration of M&M’s from home has
yet to arrive. Sometimes it can be hazardous to your health to be behind the counter. Geez!
So now that you understand what we have to go through every day and now that you are going to make it
a point to smile and request rather than demand, let me set a few things straight for the record:
— The post office is closed every day from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. (Tuesdays it’s closed all afternoon).
— Your daily mail at the dorms does NOT come through us before you receive it.
— “Express” means faster than regular mail which doesn’t say much, but that’s all we know!
— We haven’t sold Snicker bars for almost a year.
— We don’t know why Mars Candy Company will not export M&M’s to Israel.
Now that we’ve got all that straightened out, you should have a different view of the store. Now when
Mathew sends back your package after it sat in the store for two months or when Dave tells you that you can’t
check the sports in the Herald Tribune unless you buy it or when Ruth reminds you that there’s a table outside
where you can put your stamps on your letter or Tzvi figures out your bill faster than a computer or when
Paula flashes you a warm smile and speaks in flawless Hebrew and English, you will understand the extraneous
situation and be able to sympathize before you get insulted.
I’ve never met a more giving and caring family than the Keusch’s. As a pseudo family member, I can attest
to the warmth in their hearts. After having the Passover Seder with them I will now say, “Next year at the
Keusch’s.” I’m glad I can say “I WORK THERE.”
Beth Stillman, University of Illinois