Post by butch on Jan 16, 2002 12:14:29 GMT -5
Learning The Hustle: 1959
The first real experiences I had witnessing a total hustle involved Bernie Bananas and Al Rosa. Bernie was a young Jewish boy that looked like your typical bookworm, a real nerd or so you would think. Before he found the bowling alley he was a hard working grade A student on his way to becoming a lawyer, he was my age 15. Al Rosa was in his mid twenties, about 6ft tall with a spare tire around the middle, just married, and just moved into the neighborhood, a real nice guy, lived above a store on Ave M across the street from the bowling alley, had a high paying job as a fur cutter. Right after Al moved onto Ave M, he made the biggest mistake of his life; he walked into the bowling alley.
Al would take the D train home from his job in Manhattan, which ran on the elevated line on McDonald Ave right along side the bowling alley. It was payday, Al's pockets were full, and as he walked down the steps from the train he decided to check out the bowling alley. The second he walked through the door, Bernie new he had a pigeon. What went on the next year changed and ruined Al's Life forever. Bernie would bowl Al every Friday when he got paid, after he beat Al for his the whole paycheck he would bowl one more game on credit, this way Al would have to come back the following week, on pay day, to give Bernie what was owed to him from the previous week. That would start the whole cycle over again. Al Rosa couldn't beat Bernie at bowling if both Bernie's eyes were covered; it was an out and out hustle. Al became a degenerate gambler, lost his wife, his job, his self-respect, and everything else that ever meant anything to him... butch
The first real experiences I had witnessing a total hustle involved Bernie Bananas and Al Rosa. Bernie was a young Jewish boy that looked like your typical bookworm, a real nerd or so you would think. Before he found the bowling alley he was a hard working grade A student on his way to becoming a lawyer, he was my age 15. Al Rosa was in his mid twenties, about 6ft tall with a spare tire around the middle, just married, and just moved into the neighborhood, a real nice guy, lived above a store on Ave M across the street from the bowling alley, had a high paying job as a fur cutter. Right after Al moved onto Ave M, he made the biggest mistake of his life; he walked into the bowling alley.
Al would take the D train home from his job in Manhattan, which ran on the elevated line on McDonald Ave right along side the bowling alley. It was payday, Al's pockets were full, and as he walked down the steps from the train he decided to check out the bowling alley. The second he walked through the door, Bernie new he had a pigeon. What went on the next year changed and ruined Al's Life forever. Bernie would bowl Al every Friday when he got paid, after he beat Al for his the whole paycheck he would bowl one more game on credit, this way Al would have to come back the following week, on pay day, to give Bernie what was owed to him from the previous week. That would start the whole cycle over again. Al Rosa couldn't beat Bernie at bowling if both Bernie's eyes were covered; it was an out and out hustle. Al became a degenerate gambler, lost his wife, his job, his self-respect, and everything else that ever meant anything to him... butch