Transportation

Day after Labor Day, all across Monsey (and Spring Valley, for those in the Dr. Frank/Francis area. And the Blochs…)

 

                So we got our bus passes in the mail sometime during the summer, while screaming ourselves hoarse in day camp. We excitedly tear it out on the perforated lines, hoping that it doesn’t rip right down the middle. Next, we try to get it into the plastic holder with that weird shaped pin on the back….. We try to pin it to our shirts just to see how it looks but all we actually do is prick ourselves with the aforementioned pin. “East Ramapo Central School District” it says across the top. Typed (!) on the card it says you name, address, school and place of your “stop”. The bus-stops are usually on a street corner, “we don’t make house stops” the drivers always said. But of course there we always those lucky kids who had their stop basically ON their driveway…. . On the back of the bus-pass there was a list of rules. 1) Obey the bus driver at all times. 2) “Never place head or hands out of bus window”, (BD boys always made the lomdisher conclusion that feet were totally permitted to hang out of the window. 3) Do not stand in front of white line while bus is in “motion” (took years to figure out what that meant…). 4) Do not eat or drink on the bus (yeah right, we have to eat up our “recess” SOMEWHERE, right??). Then there were the unspoken rules. Like “first one on the bus goes to the back seat etc.”. What were they thinking?! Or “Emergency windows and doors are for emergencies ONLY. Really?? What will the trouble-makers do otherwise?

First day on the bus.

                You wake up late and suddenly remind yourself that it is the first day of “buses”. You already had like three weeks of just “learning” and mishmor, but now you will start “English”, either regular or “late” “English”. You rush like a mad-man, grab your briefcase, some “recess” and head to the corner. Your shoes get mildly wet from the morning “tal” as you try to see who else shares your bus stop. Bais Mikro kids? YSV? Maybe even some goyisher Public School kids (gasp). Then you begin to wait…… The excitement turns to trepidation as you suddenly realize that you might end up with a “crazy” bus driver. Finally you hear a bus chugging towards you, the telltale screeching of the brakes. But of course it’s not your bus, the other kids get picked up first.

                At last your bus pulls up. You wonder what that bird logo is, what is that little fold-up, step-like thing near the door? The driver, usually a heavy set, beer bellied, middle aged person, holds a computer printout, the old kind with the holes all along the sides. The driver checks the bus pass and you settle in to a seat. The green seats have all sorts of caricatures and writing, unless, of course, the seat is ripped….  You try not to lift the emergency window handle, all the while wondering what purpose those little round white light on the ceiling do.

                I can go on and on but where will it end? Friday dismissal? Getting kicked off the bus? We can discuss those kids who always fall asleep on the bus. Or the various bus drivers, good and bad, throughout history. Or buses breaking down, pulling out the orange tri-angle from behind the driver’s seat. The little fan for the driver, the video cameras that were installed later on, the “mic” that can be used for talking in the bus or even out of the bus. The yellow stick that swings out when the door opens, the various different technology used to open the front door, the training of the new drivers, the X-mas presents that drivers would sometimes give, the drivers who would only turn on the wiper on THEIR side when it rained….. The list goes on.

Lunch

We can discuss lunch but I will need some audience participation....

Lunch was prepared by "Mr. Drach" z"l and Mrs. Drach. Mon, Wed, and Thurs. was milchigs: macaroni, wet and cold. This was one of the many foods that caused kids to invent Bais Dovid exclusive recipes just to get the food down your throat. Kids would sprinkle that mixture of sugar and cinnamon, a Mr. Drach special, onto the macaroni.

  "Grilled cheese"... That was made by placing slices of Franczos white bread on trays, then with a PAINT BRUSH (yes, I saw it many times!!) The goyim would "paint" them with some tomato concoction. On that would be a single slice of American cheese; from the huge bricks supplied by the USDA.

Theses would be placed in the small ovens, the ones with small doors and baked until brown. Those unique spatulas with the handles spray painted blue would be needed to break each piece loose.....

"Pizza".... Need we go there?! Also baked on those pans and doled out using those spatulas. Pieces were cut in to squares, religiously.

One of the more dreaded "dishes" was fish sticks! Next was potatoes sliced in half and baked with more paprika than any other spice.

Potato knishes were actually pretty popular.

But then there was Tuesday. Tuesday was fleishigs. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that that's better than milchigs. Just that it was a whole different “sugya”. The fleishiger menu consisted of chicken and Meal Mart turkey rolls. It never really varied much from those two items. Chicken was usually baked with two-three inches of paprika on top.

The turkey (or, on rare occasions, salami) was also baked, in deep trays with plenty of fat and oil. The correct, Bais Dovid way to eat it was to place a few slices of turkey on a paper towel (the brown, sand paper ones), place another paper towel on top. Then place the palm of your hand on top and press all the oil/fats out. Then you would eat it. We can spare you the details of the rest of the process… Turkey was ever present. Even the “goulash” had, instead of cubes of meat, cubes of turkey roll!

To be continued….

!!! ערשטע, צווייטע, דריטע קלאס - אריין גיין

ונשמרתם מאד לנפשתכם

To all our Talmidim עמו''ש,
We would like to remind all of our חשובע Talmidim עמו''ש to wear their 'reflectors'/life strap. For those who are interested there will be reflectors available by the Office (a.k.a. Mrs. Lapidusעמו''ש), at the cost of $1. All proceeds go to צדקה.
These should be worn at all times, especially at night. על פי פסק of R' Nussen Horovitz עמו''ש, it is מותר to wear it on שבת. They are meant to be worn on the shoulder but, if you're a true Monseyer, you will wear it as a belt for your G&G raincoat.
May we hear only בשורות טובות.

The Hanhalahעמו''ש

Seasonal Post

Since it is already Chidesh Adar, we should really chew over some Adar memories. In the younger grades there would be a Mesiba consisting of Chaim and Yitzchak Tillim. They would come to the lunch room and do their thing....
In the older grades there would be an annual, solemn shmooz from Rabbi Bayer about "simcha un hollelis", he would make sure to mention the danger of masks etc.
We can't forget to mention the twice yearly "raffle stubs" campaign by the famous Rabbi Lichter!! Every grade would have to make more money then the number of the grade (eerily similar to Achashveirosh's seudah and the wine....)
To be continued>>>

PLEASE COMMENT!!!

Come on, people! We want to hear your memories! We wont try to figure out who you are, nobody will investigate your IP addresses. Just add to the party and let us all enjoy.
Thanx in advance.

Bais Dovid Pencil Sharpener

This really deserves a post on its own. These sharpeners were screwed in to various places in the classrooms. Since there was a rule by "English" that required every boy to have "three sharpened pencils", they provided sharpeners. Those that still had the covers on them were used to collect the slivers from the sharpened pencils and were then dumped down the backs of the shirts of kids who were being bullied.... There was ONE electric pencil sharpener: in the front office. Those kids who, for the sake of staying out of class, would stand and sharpen pencils (until there was nothing left) usually got whacked by the office door....
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SAMUEL!!!

Bais Dovid today