Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

Abstract

like?Life for all young kids seemed to fluctuate between idyllic and hectic. Idyllic when we were sleeping and hectic when we were awake.I loved the challenge of being in both states.One day at the Monte Carlo Pool, my group at camp had just finished swimming laps around the pool. The 8 of us boys were treading water in front of the exit ladder each waiting his turn to climb out of the pool.My friend, Michael Hofstein, preceded me on the ladder.As we ascended the ladder from the pool one boy would follow the next. Michael started up the rungs, his left foot about 2 inches from my eye.<h2 id="05a3">Wait! What that? His left foot had 6 toes!</h2>“Hey, Kit!” I yelled, “Michael has 6 toes on his foot!"As soon as I reached the pool deck, I grabbed Kit and looked for Michael Hofstein to show him Michael’s toes.Michael was not to be found. I didn’t see him the rest of the day.I didn’t think anything about it until I heard my dad talking to Michael’s dad on the phone that night.I heard half the conversation. My dad’s half.It wasn’t going well for me, I sensed. However, I wasn’t able to put things together to even prepare a defense.When my father hung up he bellowed to no one in particular and none too gently, “Michael Hofstein is quitting camp.”“Why dad?” I questioned innocently.“BECAUSE YOU MADE FUN OF HIS TOES!” he said in an accusatorial voice.“I, I, I didn’t make fun of Michael’s toes,” stammering.“I just wanted to show them to Kit,” I said, wanting my father to s

Options

ee the reasonableness of my position.He never did.The summer camp season was 8 weeks. He had to refund Michael’s father one-half of the $200 fee. My father and Mr. Hofstein tried to persuade Michael to finish out the summer.He refused.I figured Michael must not have liked going to camp in the first place and used me noticing his extra toe as an excuse to quit.My dad, never one to let a teaching moment pass, made me do$ 100 worth of household chores that summer to repay the returned Hofstein camp fee.My cousin Kit’s dad, Shirl, got a job in Connecticut and the whole family moved there from the Jersey Shore. I lost touch with my cousin when he moved out to California after he dropped out of high school and I went to college.We reconnected when we were in our 60s. Over a delicious seafood dinner in a very good restaurant built on the site of the old Monte Carlo Pool we reminisced.The age-old topic of regrets came up. I named a few; doesn’t do any good to fret over the past you can’t change.When it was Kit’s turn; a man who must have earned nunerous regrets over many a year (as we all do if we live long enough) confessed— “Not seeing Michael Hofstein’s 6th toe.”[1]Note 1: Polydactyly is a condition in which a person is born with extra fingers or toes. It’s a common congenital condition.Treatment is usually done in childhood with the removal of the extra finger or toe. If the extra digit is not attached by any bones, a vascular clip may be used to remove it by cutting off the blood supply.Source: Cedars-Sinai.org</article></body>

Maybe I Shouldn’t Have Mentioned It

Michael’s dad was on the phone with my father. I could see my dad getting angrier and angrier. Oh, Oh!

If there was one certainty in my life as a 7-year old, it was that I would attend my father’s day camp every day of every summer. Not that I minded — I knew it was expected of me.

Not only that, I knew that when I reached the age of 12, I’d become a junior counselor and at the age of 14 I’d be a full-fledged counselor.

At the time, it seemed to me that my summers were booked for the rest of my life.

That bothered me!

Another problem — I was expected to be a model camper. To set an athletic and behavioral example for the other kids.

My cousin Kit also went to the camp but he had no such standard to live up to.

In discussing this issue with my dad; yes we did talk about this. What appeared to me as a crushing burden, my father simply passed off .“I don’t give a damn about Kit, I care about you. I’m your father, not Kit’s. Shirl (Kit’s dad) is responsible for handling Kit.”

End of conversation.

Other than that, life was as blissful as life gets for a 7-year-old boy living at the New Jersey Shore. With warm summer days, swimming at the Monte Carlo Pool all morning and playing either base, basket or football in the afternoon with friends that also happened to pay your father money go to his camp; what’s not to like?

Life for all young kids seemed to fluctuate between idyllic and hectic. Idyllic when we were sleeping and hectic when we were awake.

I loved the challenge of being in both states.

One day at the Monte Carlo Pool, my group at camp had just finished swimming laps around the pool. The 8 of us boys were treading water in front of the exit ladder each waiting his turn to climb out of the pool.

My friend, Michael Hofstein, preceded me on the ladder.

As we ascended the ladder from the pool one boy would follow the next. Michael started up the rungs, his left foot about 2 inches from my eye.

Wait! What that? His left foot had 6 toes!

“Hey, Kit!” I yelled, “Michael has 6 toes on his foot!"

As soon as I reached the pool deck, I grabbed Kit and looked for Michael Hofstein to show him Michael’s toes.

Michael was not to be found. I didn’t see him the rest of the day.

I didn’t think anything about it until I heard my dad talking to Michael’s dad on the phone that night.

I heard half the conversation. My dad’s half.

It wasn’t going well for me, I sensed. However, I wasn’t able to put things together to even prepare a defense.

When my father hung up he bellowed to no one in particular and none too gently, “Michael Hofstein is quitting camp.”

“Why dad?” I questioned innocently.

“BECAUSE YOU MADE FUN OF HIS TOES!” he said in an accusatorial voice.

“I, I, I didn’t make fun of Michael’s toes,” stammering.

“I just wanted to show them to Kit,” I said, wanting my father to see the reasonableness of my position.

He never did.

The summer camp season was 8 weeks. He had to refund Michael’s father one-half of the $200 fee. My father and Mr. Hofstein tried to persuade Michael to finish out the summer.

He refused.

I figured Michael must not have liked going to camp in the first place and used me noticing his extra toe as an excuse to quit.

My dad, never one to let a teaching moment pass, made me do $100 worth of household chores that summer to repay the returned Hofstein camp fee.

My cousin Kit’s dad, Shirl, got a job in Connecticut and the whole family moved there from the Jersey Shore. I lost touch with my cousin when he moved out to California after he dropped out of high school and I went to college.

We reconnected when we were in our 60s. Over a delicious seafood dinner in a very good restaurant built on the site of the old Monte Carlo Pool we reminisced.

The age-old topic of regrets came up. I named a few; doesn’t do any good to fret over the past you can’t change.

When it was Kit’s turn; a man who must have earned nunerous regrets over many a year (as we all do if we live long enough) confessed— “Not seeing Michael Hofstein’s 6th toe.”[1]

Note 1: Polydactyly is a condition in which a person is born with extra fingers or toes. It’s a common congenital condition.

Treatment is usually done in childhood with the removal of the extra finger or toe. If the extra digit is not attached by any bones, a vascular clip may be used to remove it by cutting off the blood supply.

Source: Cedars-Sinai.org