About seven years ago back in the days before Youtube banned me I shot this video at Espresso’s Pizza in Fitchburg while I was there with Stacy McCain. Juan the manager was there withs his young sons who were taking orders over the phone.
Juan talked about the work ethic he hoped this would instill into his sons and I titled the video: ” A Future success story.”
Yesterday I went there to pick up a couple of slices and when I got there the teenage boy who gave me my order was all smiles. He introduced himself as one of the boys in the video. He has been working there steady for the last six years and was clearly an expert in the place. He talked about the difference growing up working there has been, what it had taught him about hard work and responsibility and how it has made a huge difference in his life.
Alas I didn’t have my camera on me and not owning a cell phone I can’t give you an updated interview but let me tell you this. This young fellow is on his way to success and the woman who marries that young man someday is not only going to be very lucky.
That is what the American dream is, that’s what an American success story looks like.
the Datechguy off DaRadio No Frills Podcast ( a Laptop & a Mike) unrehearsed, unpredictable and unacceptable to the left, starts at 3 PM Right after Rush.
Today’s Topics
Mayor Jenny Durkin and Governor Jay Inslee production of #CluelessInSeattle coming soon to a blue city near you.
And maybe we’ll take on some breaking news as it breaks if I think of it.
It all starts at 3 PM EST. You can watch the livestream here.
Hope you like it.
BTW if you want to know who Paulo is and see the video I shot today of him it’s here
Here is the same house two years ago when he started
FYI The purpose of the podcast is to increase traffic and to raise an extra $180 a month for some bills so if you like what you see, like the video, subscribe to the Youtube channel and if you really like it, consider hitting DaTipJar to get us to that $180 this month. Of course if you want to buy dafamily a Wizard of Oz Pinball machine from Jersey Jack Pinball company I won’t say no.
Yesterday I had to get up early to take my son who is going to be on 11 straight days at Market Basket to work for 6:30 so I spun down to church for the 7 AM mass where I found out that that mass and the 8 AM mass would be the last in Fitchburg for a while (so I stayed for both) and swung by Market Basket.
I didn’t need milk so I didn’t go in that aisle but they had very little bottled water and a bit of toilet paper, the shelves were not full but you could get it. I bought a two liter bottle of diet Sunkist soda, a pair of cooked chicken breasts and a package of Hershey chocolates.
I really don’t understand the hoarding of Milk, Water and Toilet Paper
Four important facts
To the best of my knowledge Cows are still giving milk and there is no prospect of the Corona/Wuhan virus spreading to cows and stopping them from doing so. There is no prospect of the country’s milk supply to disappear.
Two thousand years ago the Romans were big on aqueducts that brought fresh flowing water to the cities. Today we not only have that capability in terms of indoor plumbing as standard equipment in homes and apartments, but we have waste water treatment plants to make sure said water is safe. To my knowledge the Corona/Wuhan virus has not affected either the water supplies or the faucets in peoples houses.
Unless there is a medical development I’m unaware of there is no evidence that the Corona / Wuhan virus has affected trees or saw blades or papermills. Furthermore thanks to industry tree farming there is an abundant supply of trees to make sure that we can make all the toilet paper we want.
Gas prices are dropping like a rock and Truckers continue to be on the road so the ability to transport milk, bottled water and toilet has not been impeded in the least.
These are all reasons not to hoard Milk, Water or Toilet Paper but if they are not enough to stop you from panic let me add one more fact.
I was able to buy chocolate today.
Now chocolate is a wonderful thing but when it comes down to it, it’s not a necessity. For most of human history chocolate was not available and in the last two thousand years I suspect more human have spent their lives without chocolate than with.
Yet the chocolate supply remains unimpeaded.
When I see supermarkets without chocolate and other items that are not vital THEN I’ll start thinking, hey maybe I should be worried.
But as long as I see Chocolate bunnies near the checkout and pastries galore in the Market Basket bakery I think I’ll decline to worry about where my next roll of toilet paper is coming from…and you should too.
Yesterday Mike Romano the owner of the last butcher shop in Fitchburg that has been run by his family for 100 years died after a short but violent bout with cancer at the age of 69.
Mike was in the shop every day. Six days a week open and Monday’s doing his bookkeeping except for the week of Christmas, Thanksgiving or New Years when he would close on the holiday and open on Monday to make up for it. He was a fixture of the city. For decades when you walked into Romano’s Market you saw Mike fist with his father and uncle and then later with his sons. He was of the old school, he worked hard, did his job well, didn’t whine, didn’t complain and took care of customers.
I first wrote about Mike after seeing a post at Instapundit comparing sausage making and laws. His piece prompted this email which was the 1st time I was mentioned at Instapundit:
UPDATE: How bad have things gotten? Bad enough that when you compare journalism to sausage-making, people write in to defend sausage-makers! Reader Peter Ingemi writes:
I live 7 doors down from a butcher shop that hasbeen in the neighborhood and one particular family for 100 years. A couple of months ago when I walked in and was making my order I noticed Mike (the butcher) cutting and cubing pork. He seemed to be cutting an awful lot of it, I didn’t see a special on the board so I asked about it.
He reminded me it was Wednesday and that is the day he made all of the different sausages he makes (about a half dozen types not counting chicken and kielbasa) I stood there and watched him making sausages and realized that the old saying about Sausages no matter how true it might be for a plant or maybe another butcher shop it wasn’t true at Romano’s. (I can’t speak for other local butchers but I would bet good money that this is true for other family butcher shops too.)
I think Mike and the other local butchers deserve a caveat.
So noted.
Shortly afterwards Mike let me film him making sausage it turned into an in depth look at an old fashioned neighborhood family business
part 2
Part 3
part 4
part 5
part 6
There is no part 7 or if there is I don’t know what happened to it, here is part 8
Part 9
Part 10
I filmed there several other times. like the day before Thanksgiving one year
Kaite is only there occasionally these days, Michelle is now 29 and still works there part time in fact she cut the steak I bought there Wednesday. Harold has been dead for a few years. Mike’s Son Josh the teacher is now the Principal of school he was at and left the service as a Major. His other son Todd from the videos is still in sales but is regularly at the shop
I have no idea what the future of the Butcher shop will be as I can’t imagine going anywhere else after almost three decades of walking down the street for my meats but even if it continues it’s going to be an odd thing walking in there and not seeing Mike anymore but I’m glad that I had the chance to shoot these videos and others so I and others can remember him by.
Mike was a good man, and if he treated his other customers half as good as he treated me and mine over the years he will be sorely missed as a person can be.
Update: Corrected his age, Mike was 69 would have been 70 this year. I should mention that if you walked into Romano’s over the last few years, particularly during the holiday season or the summer months you were very likely to be waited on by one of Mike’s many grandchildren which makes seven generations of Romano’s at this business.
Here is his Obit from the Sentinel & Enterprise this jumped out at me:
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Mike’s name to the Lunenburg Fire and Rescue, 655 Mass Avenue, Lunenburg, MA 01462 or Fitchburg Fire Fighters Relief Fund, 33 North Street, Fitchburg, MA 01420. or may be left at the funeral home.
The firestations would always come down for a big order on a regular basis
thought I’d include one more video of his sons talking during the pink slime business:
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