PAX Centurion - September / October 2014

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • September/Octoberr 2014 • Page 29 281 Neponset Ave. Dorchester 617-265-2665 Full Day Preschool – $40.00 Secure Play Area 4,000 sq. ft. 3 Classrooms 2 yrs. 9 mo. to 6 yrs. Massachusetts Early Education License #291031 • Daughter of a BPPA Retiree Neponset Preschool www.NeponsetPreschool.com Eire Pub 795 Adams Street Dorchester, MA 02124 Salutes the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association busing and the Blizzard of ‘78. Our neighborhood was largely Irish and Jewish: Carnells, Careys and Grahams lived next to Solomons, Denenbergs and Miliks, with a smattering of Italians, like the Guerras and Birolinis. (Thank God for the Italians and their culinary expertise – the Irish would have starved a long time without them!) The Jewish neighbors introduced us to things like pastrami, pumpernickel bread, and half-sour pickles. We introduced them to Spaghetti-os. There was even a miserable oldYankee on our street, Mr. Putnam, but he must have been a loser if he was living in the middle of working class Irish and Jews! Everyone shopped at the same place – Rico’s supermarket on River St. or the corner store, Santospirito Brothers, across the street from Rico’s. Manny and Joe Santospirito were arguably the best comedians in the world, while possessing the world’s corniest jokes published every year in the St. Angela Parish ad-book: “Bring your dough to Manny and Joe, and we’ll make the bread”/ “Danc- ing nightly to the tunes of Joe Bananas and his rotten bunch”/ “Now serving honeymoon sandwiches: lettuce alone”/ “Free parking for five hundred cars: across the street” (Rico’s). They never had a cash register; instead, they added up everything with a pencil on the back of a brown paper bag. That was your receipt. We bought milk, bread, newspapers and bologna and cheese sliced on a machine that I doubt was ever sanitized. But we survived.... The Catholic Church, St.Angela’s inMattapan Sq., was a very much feared institution. One did not question Father Brady or SisterVeronita. We praised them in public and cursed them behind their backs, though not in the presence of our parents for fear of a beating. I was humiliated by the evilVeronita – (that harridan!) – on the feast of the Immaculate Mary for the sin of having a scuff on my white bucks, on the day fol- lowing my first holy communion. (To this day, white shoes cause me to tremble with fear.)You NEVER asked questions about what might have been going on.After all, the rumor was that electric bats inhabited St.Angela’s steeple. Come to think of it, they may have inhabited the rectory and the convent too, with all that was happening back then that nobody was allowed to speak of. But we survived…. Sorry for taking you guys down memory lane, especially those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, due to age. But as I look around at all of the nitwits tapping away on their cellphones, oblivious to oncoming traffic, slaves to technology consumed with their computers and I-pads, sucking-up to their bosses and pretending to be something they’re not, I wonder who had it better? Despite it all, I think maybe we did… and how did we survive??? From Secretary on page 7 Now for the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, yes there is an election coming, no this article is not meant to pander for votes. Not to speak for someone else, but I’m sure he would agree; Duke and I have truly enjoyed getting this canteen trailer up and running. Call it a labor of love if you will. I believe it is great for morale, I believe that we as a Union and Department all benefit from it. A happy cop is a much better cop and definitely a better ambassador for this City of ours! No matter what happens in the near future, the men and women of this department deserve no less than to be taken care of. Demand that this trailer is written into every operations order for future large events! With that being said, as always, please be careful out there, back each other up.Your number one priority should be to go home safe and sound to your family. Canteen trailer is up and running…