The Optimal Life, It’s Not Perfect, Just Better!
Adaptability — A Gift From My Father
Not a gift I ever asked for, but glad I received it.
Being one of 12 kids growing up in an Italian Catholic family in New Orleans, Louisiana, my father imparted to each of us many gifts, which, at the time, I considered a hardship. The one gift my father indoctrinated upon me was that of adaptability. Like many of life’s early lessons, I never realized it at the time. Still, it would serve me throughout my life, and I will forever be grateful for that gift, though learning it was far from easy.
My grandfather started a business in 1925 that my brothers and sisters still operate. When I was probably around 8, I began working at that business, a corner grocery store near a housing project on the corner of Magazine and Melpomene Streets. It wasn’t in a ghetto, at least I don’t think it was, but it certainly was in a predominantly poor black neighborhood. I worked there most weekends and holidays doing whatever odd chores one would assign an 8-year-old. The one that taught me adaptability was cleaning the store toilets.
Now, these toilets were for all employees and customers. If you’ve ever been in a public toilet or one that serves many, you know how it is pretty nasty. Well, at that time, we…
