;LS

try to be friends with everyone. The
reason Rachel and I have lasted is
because we don't give up. We call,
send cards regularly and make a point
to visit each other every couple of
months. We try to check in with a
phone call, even if it's only to leave a
message. And if one of us is too busy,
the other does not sit there and tally
up who's turn it is to call.
Once, we sat together on her
measly bed in our Tel Aviv University
dorm, Rachel suffering from a
migraine. I was rubbing her back,
putting cold compresses on her fore-
head and eventually fell asleep half on,
half off the bed.
Such nurturing between women is
something I imagine guys don't share.
Sure, they make friends easily. A quick
throw of a ball — be it pigskin, rubber,
sponge or leather — as soon as a sphere
soars into the air, a friendship is scored.

Sure, many male-to-male friend-
ships last for decades. But I doubt
you'd catch them kneading their
buddy's shoulders.
My conversations with Rachel may
get cut short now, as she stops to tell
her daughter how smart she is and
what a big girl she is, or to put her
down for a nap. But our talks are still
potent. She is no less interested in her
friends just because she has a husband,
mortgage, baby and dog. She can still
empathize and listen.
As we age, we don't drift. We only
get closer.
And now I look at Alexandra, with
red curls and fair skin, pushing her
baby doll in her tiny pink stroller,
down the hallway toward her pile of
stuffed polar bears. I think of all the
girlfriends she has yet to meet. I hope
she's as lucky as her mommy and me.

Happenings

September

SUNDAY, SEPT. 28

Apples and Honey with Jewish
Professional Singles and the Agency
for Jewish Education. 1:30-3:30 p.m.
At the Maple-Drake JCC. Call Rabbi
Debra Cohen, (248) 354-1050.

Handling singlehood around the High
Holidays, with Jewish Professional
Singles. 7 p.m. At the Agency for
Jewish Education, 21550 W. 12 Mile
Road in Southfield. Cost: $5. Call
Cynthia Leven, (248) 542-9166.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 30

YAD bar night, ages 21-35. 8:30 p.m.
At the Old Woodward Grill in
Birmingham. Sponsored by YAD.
Call Marc Berke, (248) 203-1458.

October

THURSDAY, OCT. 2

Singles Rosh Hashanah services. 8 p.m.
Held at Temple Shir Shalom in West
Bloomfield, sponsored by the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.

9/26
1997

84

-40.14101114111111111•101.00010010+-

Call Kari Grosinger, (248) 642-4260,
Ext. 241.

SATURDAY, OCT 4

Coffee house and movie with Jewish
Professional Singles. Meet at Sweet
Delights Coffee House on Telegraph
Road, 8:30 p.m. RSVP by Oct. 1 to
Joel Dorf, (248) 398-3987.

SUNDAY, OCT. 5

Bring In Da Noise, Bring In 'Da
Funk, the fifth annual JARC young
adult pre-glow. Cocktails and hors
d'oeuvres, 5:30-7 p.m., at Pegasus.
Curtain at 7:30 p.m., Fisher Theatre.
(248) 352-5272.

MONDAY, OCT. 6

Still single after all these years. 7:30-
9:30 p.m. For women beyond their
20s, discussion about the issues of
never being married. At the
Birmingham Community House.
Cost: $22. (248) 644-5832.

Hillel of Metro Detroit Coffee House
Night. 9 p.m. At Lonestar Coffee Co.,
207 S. Woodward in Birmingham.
(313) 577-3459.

Guy's
Eye View

Look at the hands on the Jewish guy.

heimisha boy. I'm Jewish, too."
n the process of laboring
So he launched into an explana-
through drywall restoration,
tion for my client of how "Jewish \-:\
electrical updating and minor
handymen were hard to come by."
plumbing repairs in my home
The client and I laughed,
during the past year, I real-
and the window salesman
ized I was pretty good at fix-
began speaking Yiddish.
j
ing things. Good enough, in
Although
I
didn't
under-
fact, to start a little side
stand a word, I nodded
)
business.
politely
and
said
"Shalom"
But being Jewish and
before leaving.
being handy is about as
Most of my clients are
common as drinking egg-
Jewish. And most want to
nog at a Chanukah party.
show that they know a few
My friends and family were
MARC
things about tools as well
confused.
(even if they don't).
ROSENBLATT
Thinking the No Saws for
Once, I was at a man's
Special
to
the
Children ordinance she
home
installing a garbage
Jewish
News
established in 1976 is still in
disposal. He thought it
effect, my mother asked,
would be nice to give me a
"How are you going to put
hand.
So,
while
under the sink I
up people's cove-molding without
asked
him
to
hand
me a Phillips
using a saw?"
screwdriver.
He
handed
me a socket
And, added my uncle, "Why can't
wrench.
people change their own recessed
Another time I asked a friend,
light bulbs?"
who
insisted he was handy, to assist
Then my friend wondered, "Why
me. I found he was lying when he r-=,
would people pay you to call a
went up to the attic to help me feed %
plumber and sit there while he puts
wire,
then got stuck and couldn't get
in a new kitchen faucet?"
down
for 30 minutes.
"No, no, no," I cried. "You've got
it all wrong. I'm going to put in the
faucet. I'm going to install recessed
lighting. And, yes, Mom, it'll be me
holding the saw."
So they asked, "How do you know
how to do that stuff?"
I just do. I come from a handy
family and have watched more than
my share of Learning Channel shows.
What's with the stereotype
that Jews can't fix things? Like
religion determines a person's
God-given skills?
Of course, I've only met one
other Jew who could relate.
After spending about an
hour changing a "client's" door
handles, I went to say goodbye
and collect a check. He was sitting
with a window salesman and asked
how to spell my last name. When he
These days, my weekends and
heard it, the salesman blurted out,
evenings
are pretty fun. People pay
"Would you look at that: A nice
me to do things I love, things that
Marc Rosenblatt works on the home
are easy for me. And besides, the
he owns in Royal Oak.
extra money sure comes in handy.

I