I was looking at some old photos the other day and one, in particular, made me laugh. It was a photo taken at the HS I worked at for 25 years, we were celebrating the retirement of a friend, the photo speaks for itself.

That’s me in the far left, and the amazing gentleman I worked under, our housemaster, for most of those 25 years on the far right. We had an enormous amount of fun during that time, and what it created was an atmosphere of collegiality and experimentation. We were free to grow, encouraged to try new things, NOT dictated to or given marching orders. We were trusted professionals and it resulted in amazing teaching and learning.

I shared this photo in various places and the (then) young man in the middle, the blonde in the stunning blue dress, reminded me of another story which actually is the point of this post, all he said was “remember the White Castle lunch?” So here goes….

I was in the middle of an early class one morning, and out of the blue one of my teeth exploded in pain (apparently I had an abscess I had let go too long as was my habit then), I called my dentist immediately and she said she could see me if I could get there within the hour. We were in Greenwich, she was in the Bronx so it was doable, I, of course, said “YES”. When I told my housemaster (the guy on the far right, remember…though it was not during this celebration) all he said was…make sure you bring back some White Castle (he was also a Bronx boy born and raised).

Off I went, the tooth was attended to, I was numbed up, and headed out a few blocks from the dentist to, yup, White Castle on Allerton Ave, where I bought 3 sacks of 10 burgers each (this was pre “crave case”), and headed home up the Bronx River Parkway. I was so numb that I could not even try one freshly made and it was killing me.

Well, I was driving with a great deal of alacrity wanting to get back to GHS with the burgers warm, apparently I didn’t notice the county “constable” on the side of the road and soon I saw the flashing lights and pulled over. By the time he got to the car I had all my paperwork out as I was hoping to get the ticket quickly and move along. He decided he was going to chide me about how fast I was going (let’s just say in excess of 75), as I rolled down the window he started to sniff and had a quizzical look on his face…”Is that White Castle, I smell?” he asked…”sure is” was my reply and I very quickly told him the story of my tooth and where I was headed and why I was moving so “quickly”. He responded “I grew up in the Bronx but I’ve not had any for years”…recognizing an opening I immediately took out two and handed them to him and said “here, eat these while you’re running my paper”. At first he said “no” but I pressed him and he took them. Well, it took a short while (as he was eating them slowly) but when he got back he said “you’re record is clean, but you were moving far too fast to just let it slide”…I told him I certainly understood and I was sorry, I was just trying to get the warm burgers back to my boss and other co workers who were dying for them. He didn’t say anything more and was clearly thinking about his alternatives…I, again, grasped a straw and said, “hey, listen, I’ve already broken up this sack, take the rest (8 more burgers) and enjoy them, the remaining 20 are enough for those who want a taste to get one”…I reached out the sack, this time, there was no hesitation, he took them, thanked me, handed me my license and registration back and said…”do yourself a favor, keep it under 65 will you!” and sent me on my way….

I got back to GHS and was given a large amount of grief for how long it took me to get back, however when I related the story, the burgers, while being quickly devoured, were accompanied by laughs…Some things you just cannot make up….