Waiting For Pumpsie

Waiting For Pumpsie

Picture book
Here's something I didn't know. I bet it will surprise you.
The Red Sox did not sign their first black player until twelve years
after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier for the Brooklyn
Dodgers. If you didn't know this you might want to read Barry
Wittenstein's Waiting For Pumpsie.
The year is 1959. Bernard, Wittenstein's protagonist, is
growing in a Red Sox fan family. He wonders why their favorite team
has no black players. His parents tell him change is coming.
But when?
The Red Sox are in a real slump. People are beginning to
realize a winning team may be more important than an all white team.
Waiting For Pumpsie is a slice of black history guaranteed to
appeal to sports loving kids and families.
On a personal note, I felt really proud Friday. I got compliments
from two of my supervisors, Matthew and Gordon. I do not automatically
respect them because of where they are in the hierarchy. (There are
people a lot higher up in America I have nothing but contempt for).
It's because of the way they get work done while respecting people's
personhood and dignity that wins me over. Matthew and I talked about
the importance, where we have so many people at impressionable ages
(little sports campers through college students) eating with us, of
modelling positive ways of interaction in a world that too often
models anything but. I mentioned that in the dining room one of my
goals is to model kindness for our diners. He said I do a good job of
it. :-). Later I thanked Gordon for not micromanaging me. I can't
deal with micromanaging. He told me I do a good job; I don't need
micromanaging. :). Compliments differ in their value. Some people
just toss them out without really meaning them. Some people use them
as a way to get what they want--like the male athletes in my undergrad
college telling me I was looking good or sexy to get me to promote
their teams the way I did the women's. (They were cured of that bad
habit after I flew a ringleader's BVDs on the school flagpole with a
sign saying whose they were. I only resorted to that when my words
did not work.) My gold standard is those earned from people of
integrity.
A great big shout out goes to Matthew and Gordon.
jules hathaway


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