He looks like a schmecky to me

 

He looks like a schmecky to me





    Life with a street-savvy depression generation father was always a learning experience and opened us up to all manner of expression. Part of this "education" was learning the slang words these old guys (and women) threw back and forth that had been forgotten by the youngins like Greg and myself. They might say someone was a pip or a pantywaist or a mope and we just kept listening to get an idea of what the hell that meant. My Dad had been in places and met up with people we would never be able to see and hear. He had been in life and death struggles and was a veteran of hard living we could only guess at in our suburban bubble.  Despite his excessive use of gin and the nightly inebriation he seemed to require he never smoked or used hard drugs. Except maybe for a little bit of opium in the old and free-from-police Chinatown where today's Union Station sits. None of these world worn men were ones to repress their opinions about the modern world. On this occasion great grandchild Lori McGraw had found herself a US Marine down in Oceanside wanting to tie the knot. Despite both parts of this holy union being too young for such seriousness they insisted on making it official in Las Vegas which seemed to fit the occasion. Lori's future hubby had begun to adapt a style that someday would be widespread involving the wearing of hats backwards. Even my baby boomer pals saw the trend as silly and affectatious but GET THE HELL OFFF MY LAWN!! etc. Anyway, BC was introduced to young Sam who was going to last a year in harness but swore love eternal. Grandpa forked over a nice wedding check and smiled politely.  Later, back at Terraine I asked the old man what he thought of the new member of the family and he answered "he looked like a schmeckle to me." I was confounded and knew better than to dig too deep into these statements that turned out to hold more truth than we assumed. What I heard was schmecky but he said schmeckle that meant in street parlance of his time a user of hard drugs. A schmecky turns out to be yiddish for a small penis. As far as I know Lori's hubby number one fits neither description but the saying was repeated many, many times in our imitations of BC.



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