MORE SOAP

My father Dave Ross was an unusually generous man. He gave to charities far beyond what most of his peers did, and he tipped big time. He always remembered where he came from, which was a cold water flat in Brooklyn.

Although Dad spent freely, he hated inflation, and when he saw a bagel selling for 40 cents, it almost killed him. He loved the low food prices in Florida, where he and Mom retired, and he was not above taking advantage of the early bird specials whereby many senior citizens ate dinner at bargain prices, but at 4 in the afternoon.

Occasionally Pop got a bit carried away. Dad always filled up at a nearby gas station (I think it was a Mobil station) because the filler upper was entitled to a free car wash. One time Dad noticed that there was a paucity of soap in the car wash. Not one to take an injustice lightly, Dave Ross started a crusade to make sure that all future car washes contained more soap. No, I am not making this stuff up.

Finally Dad sat down at his desk and penned an irate note to the CEO of Mobil. Just imagine for a moment that you are running a humongous organization and you get a note from some old geezer down in Florida complaining that there was not enough soap in the free car wash. You guessed it, Dad never heard back from the CEO, and so Dad did what any concerned consumer would do, he switched to a gas station where the soap content was greater.

I still miss my Dad after 24 years. He taught me to help those in need and also to be shocked by the price of a bagel. Happy Father’s Day!

THIS COLUMN APPEARED IN THE MALIBU TIMES