Out of context

[Mark A. Mandel]

I'm down from Philadelphia visiting family in Chapel Hill, N.C., and I feel
like an exotic. Last night as I walked toward the entrance of their assisted
living facility, I trade nods with a couple coming out. After we pass, they
hail me from behind with "Shabbat shalom!": obviously, they noticed my
kippah (yarmulka). They ask who I'm visiting, and tell me about the Friday
evening Kiddush services held in the facility. I tell them Thanks, we knew
about those, they were on the monthly schedule. The other facility that my
relatives were considering mentioned church trips on its schedule, but no
Jewish events.

Back at the hotel the desk clerk, a young African-American man maybe just
out of high school or in college, comments politely on the kippah, and we
get into conversation. Turns out he knows a Jewish man through his school,
but he can't remember the type. I run through the "denominations" common in
the US -- orthodox, conservative, reform. "No... He believes in Jesus as the
Son of God." "Oh," I answer, "OK, yeah. I don't want to argue, but most of
us wouldn't call those people Jewish." He still wants to talk with me if I
have some time during my stay.

This morning the placard at the hotel's breakfast area reads (lowercase
reproduced intact):


today's weather:
sunny

today's breakfast special:
top of the morning
farm fresh eggs, savory country sausage & fluffy biscuits

breakfast host:
jesus


In this context it takes me a few moments to re-parse that last line in my
mind's ear: hay-SOOS, not JEE-zus. That staffer with the Spanish accent I
told about the broken toaster. Yup, it's not *that* strange a place.


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