Mintball wrote:
But I remember the waiters with clarity. They knew our Jewish friend – and boy, did they give him stick throughout (or should that be 'schtick'?). It was close to outrageously rude. But he was happy – delighting in being know, I suspect. We didn't know where to put ourselves, frankly. I remember being fascinated but shocked but delighted all at the same time.
As many may know I came to work for my father in the 1980s in his industrial clock repair business, he wasn't Jewish but a lot of his friends in the jewelry and clock business were, as were many of our clients in the Leeds tailoring businesses. The practice of insulting your friends and more especially your business suppliers is a true art form in Jewish society and as you say its never taken as an insult, more a mark of your friendship, my dad was one of those salesmen who took on the characteristics of his customers when speaking to them and we'd be in tears of laughter listening to him on the phone sometimes, he was known by his close friends as "Solly" which I believe is a Jewish nickname (Solomon ?), hilarious times.
Once a year I still get a call from one of his old mates who in his nineties still runs a tailors finishing business and I just know that at some point in the conversation he's going to shout down the phone at me "HOW MUCH!!! YOUR FATHER WOULD NEVER HAVE CHARGED ME A CALL OUT FEE!!!", its all part of the game...
