{"id":7881,"date":"2013-10-23T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T12:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/?p=7881"},"modified":"2013-10-23T08:44:09","modified_gmt":"2013-10-23T12:44:09","slug":"the-good-the-bad-and-the-nuanced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/23\/the-good-the-bad-and-the-nuanced\/","title":{"rendered":"THE GOOD, THE BAD
AND THE NUANCED"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Stan Herschfield<\/strong><\/span> paced his apartment at 3 a.m., waking up the tenants below.\u00a0 I asked Herschfield to ease up, and\u00a0 he said, \u201cWhat do you want from me?\u00a0 I can\u2019t fly.\u201d<\/p>\n

He moved out shortly after that.<\/p>\n

About 10 years later, he called. \u201cStratton, you remember me — Herschfield.\u00a0 I want to move back in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHerschfield!\u201d<\/strong><\/span> I said, emoting like I was in a bad JCC play. \u201cYou painted the floor.\u00a0 You complained about the deaf guy across the hall blasting organ music.\u00a0 You complained about the people below you fornicating. You skipped out on your final month\u2019s rent.\u00a0 It cost me fifty dollars to clean the place.\u00a0 But you did teach me some good Yiddish words.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t skip! \u00a0Those yentzers<\/em> below, they drove<\/em> me out!\u201d<\/p>\n

“You painted the kitchen floor.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“Stratton, I<\/strong><\/span> used Benjamin Moore.\u00a0 Only the best!”<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t let him back.<\/p>\n

Maybe Herschfield didn\u2019t say yentzers<\/em>.\u00a0 Maybe he said shtuppers<\/em>.\u00a0 I only caught a fraction of his Yiddish.\u00a0 He talked so fast.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had<\/strong><\/span> a couple former tenants move back in.\u00a0 Usually not into the same suite, but often into the same building.<\/p>\n

I save<\/span> old records on tenants. \u00a0F. Scott Fitzgerald said bookkeeping is not a sexy subject, but it is moderately interesting. \u00a0I wish I hadn\u2019t thrown out my dad\u2019s tax returns; they would make fascinating reading now I\u2019m older and into nuance.<\/p>\n

I keep dossiers on ex-tenants.\u00a0 Nothing personal, no nude posture photos like those Ivy League colleges did.\u00a0 Just notes on whether the tenant paid his final month\u2019s rent, turned in his keys and didn\u2019t trash the place. \u00a0If all\u2019s well, I\u2019ll let him back.\u00a0 Could be a decade later.<\/p>\n

The good tenants, you don\u2019t remember.\u00a0 You have to look them up.<\/p>\n

—
\nThis post was a vid<\/a> first,\u00a0 4\/5\/12. Features Alan Douglass singing “Dear Landlord.”<\/em>
\n—
\nYiddishe Cup is at KlezmerPalooza<\/a> at The Temple, Beachwood, Ohio, 7:30 p.m. Sat., Nov. 16.\u00a0 $20, or $15 if you buy by Nov. 9.\u00a0 Call 216-831-3233.\u00a0 Free dessert, beer and wine. <\/span>
\n—<\/span>
\nA new vid, “You wouldn’t believe the derelicts . . . ”\u00a0\u00a0 Forty-five seconds of\u00a0 real estate talk:<\/span>
\n