Try to walk in Gods ways
Offer your hand of friendship
A hand that holds no worldly goods
For as food that is eaten
It is consumed and forgotten
~ Gemini Joe ~
N
ow I’m going to tell you something about Italian people. The Romans have given more to humanity than any other ethnic group and I defy anyone to show me different. Look at all the famous painters, poets and architects that came from Italy. We are a creative people, and no one can deny that. Of course, we had some bad elements in there, but you take the good with the bad.
I always had the talent to draw and build the wildest projects. My father thought only money is what mattered, but he was wrong. I wanted to please him, so I put away my paints and drawing pencils years ago.
When you were a young girl, I started drawing again, especially at night while everyone was sleeping. Maybe you remember waking up to find pages of cartoon drawings that lay on the coffee table. I drew them.
Do you remember in fifth grade? I built you a covered wagon that was the envy of your classmates. The teacher displayed it in the glass case of the school hallway for everyone to see.
In sixth grade, I built you a space project. All the kids laughed and said it was just a box with a hole, but when the teacher plugged the cord into the wall outlet, all of your classmates crowded around. They peeked inside, astonished, as our galaxy came alive before their eyes. I hung a flying saucer from a string, made from two ends of a rubber ball and lit by a small Christmas tree bulb. The light illuminated stars and drawings of planets and comets, shot across a background of black construction paper.
It was smart of you to think of using a tape recorder. You probably took after me. Is that bragging? Well, anyway, it was a good idea. I wasn’t up on that kind of technology, but I caught on. I thank you and love you for thinking of this. It’s doing me a lot of good.
I know you want pictures and I am trying to go through what I have. I glued them all into a book and will have to bring the whole album to Staples or something to have them copy one picture at a time. Boy, they are going to throw me out of the store. Anyway, I think you want pictures of me as a little boy and not so much of me when I became a man. I looked very serious, I guess.
I’m glad you’re giving me the chance to make up for lost time. I hope you remember when I helped you with your school projects. It actually helped me too, to set aside my problems.
Do you remember, every week, on trash day, I went driving and I found a lot of antiques that no one else wanted. It must be true what they say. One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure. Long Island was good for that. I used what other people threw away to make weird and unique thing. I think you were embarrassed about that, but I’d make lamps out of old statues and tables with gold-painted bases and discarded marble tops.
I also had a knack for analyzing how things worked and thinking of improvements. Even when I was fourteen, I was able to look at something and make it run better.
One day, I noticed that no matter how fast I tried to skate, something held me back. Examining the bottom of my skate, I found the manufacturer had placed a rubber block to slow the wheels down.
The safety of small children had motivated them to limit the speed of their product, but I didn’t see the necessity and disassembled the skate to remove the block. Once I reattached the wheels, I used the key to adjust each skate, careful to make them as tight as possible. Loose skates had a way of shifting off your foot and landing alongside your ankle as you hit the dirt, or the cement, and I had many scars from skating to prove it, but I wanted to go as fast as the wind, so I took the risk.
My friends were green with envy as I whizzed by, leaving them behind. I flew past my friends in every race and got a kick out of watching their expressions. They were so confused.
“Wow, look at him go!” they yelled. “How did you do that, Joe?”
Of course, I agreed to fix their skates, to and we all skated faster.
Ideas for inventions came to me all the time and I thought of ways to improve a design, or create something that would make life easier. Using my drawing ability, I made sketches.
When I worked at the auto garage, I thought of a better way to change a lug nut. Then, as a mechanic for Sears, I created a device to adjust the legs of heavy appliances.
Even around the house, I thought of useful things like a coffee dispenser that you dial to get the right amount of coffee instead of using a scoop.
People told me to get my inventions patented and I should have taken their advice. Instead, I listened to a friend. He said, “All you need to do is mail it to yourself, Certified, but don’t open the envelope. Your idea will be safe and no one will be able to steal it.”
Well, that didn’t work so well. A lot of my inventions came out of frustration.
One morning, I stared at the tube of toothpaste in the bathroom. The cap was missing.
“What’s wrong with you kids?” I complained. “Why can’t you put the cap back on the toothpaste when you’re finished? What do I have to do? Glue the cap to the tube?”
Then an idea hit me. I ran to the garage with the tube of toothpaste and, a few hours later, emerged with a design to keep the cap attached to the tube. Carefully documenting my design, I mailed it to myself and then sent a letter to several toothpaste manufacturers, hoping someone would like my idea.
Someone did, and invited me to present my prototype to the company board. For once, one of my ideas had a chance to become a reality. I thought my design for a toothpaste tube with an attached cap would make us rich.
Even your mom was excited. She helped me find a nice suit to wear and helped to arrange my paperwork for the presentation to the board. I looked like a million bucks.
I went into the conference room feeling confident. There were a dozen businessmen in suits seated around long table. I made my presentation and the CEO loved it. He said they would get back to me soon.
A few weeks later, a response to my invention came in the mail. Your mom was jumping up and down. She said, “Hurry, open it!”
I tore into the envelope and read the letter. My smile disappeared. “They’re not interested,” I said. At the time, I couldn’t understand why. Now, of course they have tubes like that. I guess they just didn’t like my design.
Disappointed, I left the house to go to the Sons of Italy Club, where I sat alone at the bar. I guess I was feeling defeated.
“Hey, Gemini!” My friend Lou said.
When I first joined the Sons of Italy, he had pointed out we were born under the same Gemini zodiac sign. It became my nickname and I used it as my signature for poetry.
Lou sat on the stole next to me. “You look like someone kicked your dog,” he said. “What’s up with you?”
“I’m so tired of it all,” I said and told him about my invention. “I guess I’m going to have to keep commuting into the city to work.”
“Why don’t you get a job on the Island, Joe?”
“I wish I could, but I don’t know of any.”
“You need to get into the political scene if you want a local job.”
Then I remembered my neighbor, Al had mentioned something about joining the Republican Club when we first moved onto the block. “New York is a Democratic state,” he said, “but in this town, everyone’s Republican.”
The next afternoon, I walked across the street and knocked on Al’s front door.
“Joe! What brings you here?”
“I’ve been thinking about what you said and I’d like to go to the next Republican Club gathering.”
“It’s about time you came to your senses, Joe. The next meeting is Monday night. Come with me and I’ll sponsor you.”