Birthday Party in Newcastle

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of attending my uncle Arnold Barer's 75th birthday, held at a magnificent venue in Newcastle, Washington overlooking Seattle and its environs.







Mother nature graced our brunch with a magnificent rainbow. Uncle Arny, ever competitive, pulled out his iPhone and showed me a picture he snapped of the much more impressive rainbow he'd seen from his house earlier that morning.
















After the huge buffet, we were treated to speeches from Uncle Arny's friends and family, including one from my dad to his brother. (I don't know if the matching yellow sweaters were planned.)











Arny also endured some good-natured (I hope) roasting from his sons. Here's Sam, who enlisted Arny's grandkids into his plans.














Also present were my brothers (and fellow bloggers) Steve and Mike, along with their respective spouses.

We all had a great time. I hope that our family will continue to have milestone birthdays like this into the future.

"A Barer" Blog Posts Collection Now Available

"A Barer: Blog Posts 2006-2009" -- a collection of excerpts from my dad's blog -- is available at:

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/a-barer-blog-posts-2006-2009/9199980


We haven't put any markup on the book; Lulu.com is the only party making money on it. A hard copy of the book (perfect-bound trade paperback) is $9.02; an ebook version (pdf) will set you back the princely sum of 99 cents.

Obviously, I'm biased; but when I pick a copy up and read it, I find it hard to put down. It's filled with anecdotes about our family; about Dad growing up in Walla Walla, Washington; about the famous people Dad has known; about the various personalities who have worked at the family business; and about life in general, from someone who has lived it.

For samples, see Dad's blog at www.abarer.blogspot.com

Immortalized at HO-Scale

According to my dad's blog (http://abarer.blogspot.com/2010/03/virtual-barer-or-baer-man-in-texas-has.html), a model train builder in Texas has built a reproduction of the old Walla Walla rail line. It includes a sign showing the name of our old family business, B. Barer & Sons -- albeit misspelled.

Salesmen and "Schnorrers"

"Schnorrer" is one of those Yiddish perjoratives that has been welcomed into the English language because it has no precise English analogue. A schnorrer is a begger, but not necessarily one who begs out of poverty. The schnorrer is a moocher. He takes without giving back, out of a sense of entitlement and a lot of chutzpah (another Yiddish word that defies precise English definition -- you know it when you see it).

The current issue of FORTUNE magazine celebrates the humble salesman. It is full of advice for making and closing sales, such as this one by a sales psychologist who describes sales slip-ups. The recurring refrain is that successful selling depends on getting inside the potential customer's head -- feeling his pain, knowing his needs, irritating him as little as possible (while staying within his radar), and giving him something extra whenever feasible. This last piece of advice seems counter to the entire idea of schnorring.

Yet my dad's recent blog post , in which he describes a schnorrer of his aquaintance -- an itinerant fund raiser for Jewish causes -- shows that this particular schnorrer had mastered the empathy essential to successful sales:

I remember him calling on my father and he or his predecessor probably called on
my grandfather so as soon as I finished my phone call or the paperwork in front
of me I would reach into my desk for a checkbook.

One year instead of
reaching for the check book I turned to him and said, "I am sorry. We have had a
really lousy year I'd like to skip the donation this year."

He fixed his
gaze on me and responded, "So you had a lousy year. How did it feel?"

Well it was depressing and I had to tell the family to cut back on extra
expenses.

"So why would you do that to me?"

He left with a
generous check