Uncle General

My dad recently told me the funniest story that I had ever heard about my great uncle, General Lee. General died when I was very young, so I never knew him. Also, for some reason, everyone in the family pronounced his name with a real Southern drawl. Up until last week, I thought that his name was Gennel. Go figure.

Anyway, my great uncle General had moved to Chicago during the late 60’s to find work. As you may know, there was a huge migration of people from the Appalachian area at this time in history. Several thousands of people flocked to the north to find work in the factories of Indiana and Illinois. You may still have family in the area today.

General was living in Chicago at this time and was trying to find work. Unfortunately he couldn’t read or write. So, he got one of his friends to fill out his employment application for him. His friends decided to play a joke on him and wrote down on his application that he had graduated high school and had gone to two years of college. When he turned in his application, the company put him in an office position. I am not sure what they wanted him to work on, but it involved a lot of paperwork. They kept checking on him throughout the day, but he never seemed to make any progress.

Finally, his supervisor asked him if anything was wrong. General said that he didn’t know what they wanted him to do.

“You went to school, didn’t you,” his supervisor asked him, “Surely this shouldn’t be too hard for someone with your education.”

“Yeah,” my great uncle stated, “I went to school for a lot of years. I just never could learn anything!”

Needless to say that General didn’t get to keep his cushy office position for long. He ended up the day working with the custodial staff. From what Dad said though, he never did keep one job for very long. He was a Jack of all trades.

Another story that involved my great uncle General dealt with the problems that people often have with language barriers. As I stated before, I had always thought that his name was Gennel because that is how everyone in my family has pronounced it all these years. Well, in Chicago, it is obvious that there would be a language difference. This caused some problems for my great uncle.

One day, he went to the drug store on the corner to buy a pitcher so that he could keep cold water in the refrigerator. When he went into the store, he told the ladies that were working that he was looking for a “picture.” Confused, they brought him a picture album and several picture frames. General just kept on getting angrier and angrier.

Finally, he said, “No! I want a picture! Something to make water in!”

Of course, what he really meant was something to keep water in. However, the workers had something else in mind. They brought him a bedpan!!! You can imagine my great uncle’s response. Needless to say, I can’t put it in print…LOL!

I wish that I could have gotten to know my great uncle better. He seemed like he really enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest. I hope that each of you is doing the same. Until next time…class dismissed!