My grandfather was one of the most interesting people I ever knew. He did not have much formal education (he was born about 20 years after slavery ended), but he was smart as a whip and very entrepreneurial. As far back as I can remember he always had a business of one kind or another.
He and my grandmother were complete opposites and were separated my whole childhood. From family oral history, I knew he always was a good provider. When my father, uncle, and aunt were grown my grandfather started a family business. A dry cleaners with one store in the city and another store and cleaning plant in Baltimore county.
He was gruff, funny, and cursed a lot, and my grandmother was quiet, proper, and religious. What a pair! They seemed to love each other but could not live under the same roof. I think it may have to do with my grandfather's main business. Whorehouses. He ran a whorehouse until the day he died at age 87. I learned a lot hanging around him and his cast of characters. And not just the obvious!
He taught me to be self sufficient and not to depend on a job for survival. He came along way before social security. He said to learn a skill or craft you could use regardless of what the job market was like, and you'll never go hungry.
He made bathtub gin, ran numbers, had grocery stores, and of course, the good time houses. I've learned how to teach/train. I can always hustle up a workshop. I also know how to drive over the road. Sooner or later everything goes by truck to somewhere.
He taught me how to size people up without being judgemental. He also taught me everyone has a story and everyone is interesting. Good things to know, and I got a Phd. in his whorehouse. I met people who looked like dimwits who talked about philosophy and art. Flashy characters who knew about African American history. I got valuable lessons in looking at people under the surface and behind the mask.
By the way, I didn't get a bicycle for my fourteenth birthday. It pays to have a Pop with a good time house!
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