It’s December already, Hanukkah has begun, Christmas is just around the corner. The season of good tidings of comfort and joy. We’ve all heard multitudes of stories of good deeds, generosity, Christmas Miracles and random acts of kindness during the holiday season. This is a story of how I learned what not just the season, but what life is really about.
I grew up just east of Pittsburgh. Turtle Creek is a small town with a big history. Our town has produced a Medal of Honor recipient, an Olympic Gold Medal winner, a Heisman Trophy winner, a Hollywood actor and a singing group with a number of top 40 Billboard hits ... and Fred Leiberman.
Fred didn’t actually live in Turtle Creek, but he owned a business here, The S&S Shoe Store on Penn Avenue. That’s where I worked as a teenager. I started out as a stock boy. Sweeping up, cleaning the windows, running the vacuum and (this will take you back) emptying the ashtrays! After a few years it was determined that I had learned enough about the business to become a salesman. In reality, I was a stock boy/part-time salesman.
Circa 1962, as Christmas drew near, the S&S, like all the other stores in town, was decorated with lights and tinsel. As a newly promoted salesman, I was scheduled to work a full shift on the Saturday before Christmas. At $1.25 an hour I was going to be rolling in money because Fred doubled everyone’s paycheck for Christmas.
I am now in my late 60s and my memory may not be what it once was, but I recall with absolute crystal clarity that Saturday afternoon when a woman came into the store with two young children in tow. They were all dressed in clean, but obviously well-worn clothes. As I was fitting the older child for long overdue new shoes to replace her old battered ones (a full two sizes difference), the younger child said excitedly, “Mommy, am I getting new shoes too?”
Her mother replied, “I’m sorry. You’ll have to wait until Daddy gets paid again.”
Fred, as he was wont to do, was observing his newest salesman from a nearby vantage point. You can imagine my surprise when he said, “Jimmy, don’t forget about our Christmas Special for today only. Buy one pair of children’s shoes and get a second pair free.”
A bit bewildered, I fitted the second child with brand-new shoes as well. As they were leaving the store, the woman turned to Fred and said, “God Bless you and Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas to you, too,” he replied.
Although that was the first, it certainly wasn’t the last time I witnessed the thoughtfulness and caring shown by this man.
Fred Leiberman taught me the true meaning of Christmas, the true meaning of what has come to be known as the “Christian Thing” to do that day, and I will be forever grateful. Oh, did I mention that Fred was Jewish?
So, wherever you are Fred, I wish you a most joyous Christmas and a very Happy Hanukkah!
JIM TOPPER
Turtle Creek
A trinity of helpers got me home, intact
One day last week I was rushing to complete errands in Squirrel Hill so that I would not miss Elder Express to take me home with all my bags. But even though I thought I was waiting outside Giant Eagle well in advance of Elder Express’s arrival, the van did not come. Believing I had missed it, I began tottering with four heavy and overflowing bags to the bus stop.
But Elijah, who was manning the Salvation Army contribution kettle outside Giant Eagle, insisted on using his phone to determine the status of the Elder Express van. While he was doing so, Marta emerged from Giant Eagle and, even though I did not know her, volunteered to drive me home — and then did so.
When I returned home and was going through my purchases, I found that I no longer had my eyeglasses, so I called the various places I had visited in the course of running errands and was happy to learn that someone had turned them in at Starbucks!
Thank you to all the good Samaritans who helped me that day: Elijah, Marta and the unknown person who found and turned in my eyeglasses!
JILL DIONE
Squirrel Hill
Has someone done you right? Send your Random Act of Kindness to page2@post-gazette.com, or write to Portfolio, Post-Gazette, 358 North Shore Drive, Suite 300, Pittsburgh PA 15212.
First Published: December 10, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
