Table of Contents
- Is it PicWay or Thatta’ Way?
- Nebaletan Word of the Day – Nebaletan!
- Pizza Review – GG’s Pizzeria, East Rochester, NY
This is Part 3 of 3 about my job at PicWay , my first “real” job.
Is it PicWay or Thatta’ Way?
My first responsibilities at PicWay were to re-shelve shoes after a customer “de-shelved” them. I did this all day, every day. This appealed to my need for order. I must’ve been good. Before long, I was trained at the cash register, interact with customers, and help close the store at night. The close made sure that the cash and credit were balanced with the day’s ol’ school cash register tapes.
We were particularly busy one day. I was checking out a customer when a woman in a hurry ran up to the cash register. She thrust some cash past the other customer to me. She hurriedly said, “I need to go. Here’s the price tag from the shoes, and this is the correct change,” before running out.
Luckily, I placed that money on top of the cash register and finished checking out the original customer.
Our store is at the far left end of the plaza
From – Shops Ashtabula Plaza – Fall of 1956 – Photo by C.A. Yoak – Ashtabula Star-Beacon, Wednesday, October 4, 2006 – By SHELLEY TERRY – (see here – https://www.flickr.com/photos/115892967@N03/
About an hour later, the hurried woman and two men in suits entered the store. They went immediately to the back room to find our manager, Gary. There was a commotion, and then Gary immerged and walk-ran to the front of the store. He locked the doors and began the evening close even though it was mid-day.
I was confused but went back to straighten the shoes on the racks and singing ’70s Top-40 under my breath. Gary approached me and asked me to return to the office in the store’s back warehouse. The two suits and the hurried woman were there. Gary was exasperated, and his Irish face was beet red!
At that point, the suits explained that they had executed a sting. They said I was going to be reported to the police for petty theft!
I was quite naïve and simply asked, “Why?”
Again, the suits said, “For stealing from the company.” It turned out that they were district managers and conducted such stings regularly to catch theft by employees. They continued, “Do you remember this woman?”
“Yes,” I replied simply.
“She gave you money. Can you please empty your pockets?” the suits demanded.
I rarely carried cash (and still don’t), so my pockets were empty. They then asked, “What did you do with the money?”
“It’s on the cash register along with the tag where I left them. I hadn’t had a chance to ring it up since we were busy then Gary closed the cash register.”
Gary feigned a laugh and was less polite. He asked his bosses and the lady not to do that in his store again without a head’s up. I’m certain he might’ve wanted to say more but didn’t want to cause a problem.
I was quiet then. But I’m certain that I wouldn’t be quiet today! I would ask the woman, “What happened to the shoes you puttana? Did they steal them?” And to the suits, “Vahffanculo,, you pezzi de merde?!”
Nebaletan Word of the Day – Nebaletan!
In the last sentence above, I used several Nebaletan words. These were part of me and my Nebaletan friends’ everyday vocabulary in high school. But after using the term Nebaletan for several years, I realize that I’ve not defined Nebaletan formally.
Nebaletan/Nebaledan/Nabaletan/Nabaladan – pronounced Neb-All-Ah-Dawn. Yes, I know there’s a T in the word, but it’s pronounced as a D…as all Nebaletans would do!
I did a Google search for definitions of Nebaletan. I mostly found links to my blog!!!!! There was one other link to this ‘O Nnapulitano – The Neapolitan language. – (napulitanamente.com).
This is strange to me. Most people that I grew up, many with Southern Italian roots used Nebaletan. My brother, Capos Donnie and Carm, even my buddy Paulie whose Jewish from Brooklyn also uses Nebaletan! So, I’m surprised not to find it in a Google search.
So, here’s a try at a definition:
Definition 1 – an immigrant and their offspring from the Kingdom of Naples.
- Many consider all Southern Italy as Neapolitan. This region corresponds to the former Kingdom of Naples. This was formerly Campania, the southern part of Lazio, Calabria, Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, and Calabria.
- The Kingdom of Naples existed until the Risorgimento (see Unification of Italy – Wikipedia) in the 1860’s.
- Since most emigres occurred 1880 to 1922 (when our government said that Southern Italians were an inferior race and regulated our immigration), because of relative youth of the Italian State, considered themselves Neapolitan vs Italian
Definition 2 – those who spoke (and still speak) the Neapolitan language and its offshoots (see Neapolitan language – Wikipedia (the Neapolitan language is not a dialect). Again, this is roughly the former Kingdom of Naples.
Pizza Review – GG’s Pizzeria, East Rochester, NY
160th pizza reviewed, 40th this year (see full list => click here).
Had a great opportunity to watch our grandson the other day. Afterward, it was too late to cook, so what do you do? What else? Get pizza!
Took to Google and found GG’s nearby in the town of East Rochester, NY. I’ve described ER as the town I aspired to move to 42 years ago after moving to Rochester. ER was much like Ashtabula. It had a large Italian-American population, several Italian specialty stores (Leo’s is still there), and a large Browns fan population.
Alas, I never moved here, and although much has changed in 42 years, I still enjoy when my frequent visits! And thus, GG’s Pizzeria!
| Date | 8/13/24 |
| Pizzeria | GG’s |
| City/Neighborhood | East Rochester, NY |
| Website | Home – GG’s Pizza (ggspizzas.com) |
| About Us | About – GG’s Pizza (ggspizzas.com) Short but sweet About Us. The guys have been in the business for 35 years. This is what spurred me to give them a try. |
| Style | New York |
| Ambiance | Very much an ol’ school joint! Almost looks like it might’ve been an Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips at one time! Inside, lots of orange but clean. Soda cases line the walls. My grandson attempted to pick up 2 liter bottles (unsuccessfully). Although, he picked up a 20oz bottle very successfully! |
| Beverage Pairing | Blue Gatorade Zero |
| Rating Criteria | |
| Shape | Round |
| Dough/Crust | Tickness – Medium to tick Cook – Soft, some crispiness, chewy, no char, browned as typical for lower temperature gas or electric ovens (which is also typical for ol’ school joints) Flavor – a slight tinge of sweetness (sugar or honey) which is typical for same day dough to speed up rise (at the expense of other flavors) |
| Cornicione | Crispy, Spongy/airy, chewy, sweet |
| Toppings | Pepperoni (on half), Cheese Fresh – site says they freshly grate their moozedell daily There was a condiments bar with grated cheese, oregano, hot sauce, but I choose not to add any to preserve the intent of the pizzaiola (who seemed to be the owner’s daughter) |
| Sauce | Tangy, Chunky – nice taste, not much other spices which is how I like it, unfortunately, there wasn’t enough for me, and it definitely took some searching to find the sauce under the mound of moozedell |
| Cheese | Cheese Type – Moozedell You could add your own parmagian. It was in a shaker container on a condiments shelf. It had the orange hue of Kraft (read that as fake) parmagian (versus the bright white of freshly grated, Parmigiano-Reggiano) Cheese Distribution – All over Greasy, Stringy, Salty Very much an ol’ school pie when it comes to cheese! |
| Cheese to Sauce Ratio | Sauce – A little to Medium Cheese – A lot Balance – way out of balance! Too, too much cheese for my taste. The regular cheese was like having extra cheese. If I’d ordered extra cheese, my ailing heart might’ve stopped! |
You must be logged in to post a comment.