Month: November 2015

When I was young and 20+!
It was 1955, and I was in Macy’s Jewelry department looking for a ring. I was  waiting for the salesman to bring me a black velvet covered board with 6 beautiful engagement rings that were fitted into slots to hold them firmly in place.. As I waited, from the corner of my eye a noticed that a women came and stood alongside of me also waiting for the salesman to help her with something she was holding in her hand. When he came back, he told that he would be with her shortly and began telling me about each ring pointing to it saying what each cost and the size of it in carats. As he did so, I picked each one up and looked at it like I knew what I was doing, but actually I didn’t have a clue. The woman along side me saw my indecision and said to me… “Don’t look at the ring because of price or carat size, but look at each and decide which one you like best, and the one you would be proud to give.” I turned and looked at her and realized she was someone I recognized as special. She was Angela Lansbury and as pleasant as could be, so I smiled a big smile and thanked her and I did as she suggested, and bought a one carat perfect gem. It was much more than I could afford, but it was the one I really liked, and handed it back to the salesman. He then said he now needed the size that would fit my girlfriend. I again looked shocked as I had no idea of what it was. Again, Angela Lansbury smiled at me and “Just buy the ring, and give it to her, then afterwards you both can come down here and get it sized properly”. Wow, she was so smart and very beautiful, even more than in the Movies. I thanked her with a big smile and she smiled and turned her attention to the salesman. It was 20 years later that I visited that Department  to buy a 3 carat ring to placate my wife who was now a very different person than the one I loved, but that’s another story for another time. What triggered this story was for a mili-second, I saw Angela Lansbury on TV as she is today, and it brought back my first meeting of her.

Where were you when Martin Luther King was shot
Me? I was driving my motorcycle as I did every day through Harlem on Lenox Ave where I had my flower warehouse on 168th St, just off of Lenox.. It was just a regular day for me to go there before I continued on to my office on 23rd St and Fifth Ave, a building called “The Gift Building”. As you come down Lenox Avenue at 169th street, it begin a rize so much so, that you can’t see down the avenue until you reach the crest of the hill, then you can look way down to 110 St , where the designated boarder line exists between black Harlem and Spanish Harlem. Every day I did the same thing and carefully reached the top of the hill, as many times heavy traffic is stopped there for one reason or another, and it’s wise to slow down as to go over it. This one particular day as I came over the crest, a large crowd of people were there yelling and screaming and kicking and punching a man who was white, laying there trying to protect himself. I had no choice but to slam on my brakes and lay the bike down in order not to hit into the crowd. I slid with sparks flying, but stopped in time just before the crowd, who all turn to look to see what was happening, and why the screeching noise. I lay on top of the bike to prevent my being crushed under it. Naturally I was shook up and tried to get up , but I was not able to as young men grabbed me and began to hit me and punch me, as they were doing to the guy I just saw. I didn’t know what was going on and tried to fight back but it was impossible against so many. Just then, I hear screaming for everybody to stop.. “STOP”, “STOP” That’s Mr Bianco! They jumped in and tried to stop what was happening to me, Yelling That’s My Bianco he is our friend and he has been helping us! They were very insistent and actually were fighting off all that were around me. More joined to help out. Eventually everybody stopped and I got up and was surrounded by all the boys who worked in my warehouse. They walked with me to my bike, helped me lift it up and we all pushed it to my warehouse, each of them saying how sorry they were and did I know what happened? I said all I know is when I came over the rise, they were there yelling and screaming, and I didn’t know why, because I always came the same way. They all said No, not that, don’t you know happened today? I said no “What happened?” They all screamed at once “They killed Dr Martin Luther King” and everybody in Harlem has gone crazy beating up every white man they see, even the ones like you who help us… It’s crazy everybody has gone Crazy!!! Needless to say, I stayed away from my warehouse and told the guy in charge to call me at least three times a day with a report on how things were going and how my worker should stay home and I’ll still pay them , to stay out of the riots and keep there families safe, and that it will end as it always does. I didn’t know how Mr King was loved and honored as it didn’t end right away, but continued on and on, with the bad element taking over incited by the little sneaky Bastards, like Al Sharpton , destroying the places they needed to live and eat, and hurting those businesses that actually were there for them everyday. The police did nothing! they stayed away from all of Harlem leaving all the good black families to suffer from all that was destroyed.