Mar. 22 - Apr. 4, 2011
COMMUNITYNEWSPAPERS.COM
‘If I were a rich man...’ Well, I truly am rich BY ERNIE SOCHIN
Vice Mayor “If I were a rich man…All day long I’d bi-di bi-di boom.” Famous lyrics from Fiddler On The Roof. Well, I truly am a rich man but I don’t “bi-di bi-di boom” very much. People might think I was nuts. I guess I had better explain. A while back, I was becoming very depressed. It seemed that everybody was getting rich buying, selling and flipping real estate. If not that, they were “makin’ a killin’” in the stock market with great deals being offered all over the place — everyone that is except me. I was too chicken to invest what little I had. Well, it turns out now that many of those buyers, sellers and flippers are becoming depressed and, as for me, with my paid-for house that actually is worth six times what I paid for it even in today’s market, well I am like Tevya’s dream. I am wealthy beyond compare. Not only my magnificent paid-for estate, but a wife who has tolerated me for 49 years. If you question that, read all my articles and see if you would want to live with me that long. I also have two wonderful children who live within a bicycle ride away from me and three of the most intelligent, beautiful, athletic grandchildren on the entire planet. If you don’t believe me, I have at least 3,500 recent photographs of them that I would be delighted to share with you. My point — if there is one to all this — is that wealth takes on different meanings as you age. Years ago, I would have wanted what Tevya in Fiddler wanted. “A great big house with one long staircase just going up and one even longer coming down.” Now, I would have a tough time climbing either staircase with my arthritic knees. I do have a few regrets however. I never in my life thought of seeking a job in the public sector. Who wanted to do that when you could become an entrepreneur and make millions without having anyone to tell you what to do? Well for many years I had no one telling me what to do, nor did I have anyone setting aside a lot of money for my pension plan and agreeing to cover my medical expenses for the rest of my
life. Wow what a deal those folks have! Of course those days are fast coming to an end. Companies and governments finally realize that they simply cannot afford to provide these things and still offer the services and products that people can afford. Thank heaven for Social Security and Medicare. That, with a reasonable amount of savings over the years, can put off shopping for cat food for many of us who didn’t go to work for the government or post office, etc. I recently read where General Motors payroll goes mostly to people on pension who no longer make cars. No wonder they had so many problems but would I love to have been one of those lucky pension holders. How about those that work for 20 years or so, get a full pension, take another job with a pension and retire on two pen-
Vice Mayor Ernie Sochin recreates a scene from Fiddler on the Roof. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
sions. Who pays for that? I wish there had been a UFE, (Union For Entrepreneurs) to speak up for me. Oh well… Again, I missed the boat, but I wouldn’t trade all that for the riches that I already have! Anyone want to see some pictures of grandkids? Additional note: Fiddler on the Roof has special meaning to me as my father was born in Russia in 1888 in a typical shtetl (small Russian town) and told me stories of his growing up in a very similar environment to the story, When I first saw the play, it was like déjà vu; exactly as my father had described it.
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