Journal 7: Muslims in America
My family is from Somalia, and the biggest challenges that they faced are people are always stereotype because by the religion or the way they dress, some people believe that all Muslim people are terrorists which isn’t true because I don’t understand why people blame the whole nation because the national didn’t do anything to harm people. I hope people realized that we aren't bad people. My religion doesn’t allow to people kill or harm anybody because we believe that God said in the Qur'an leave my people alone and what ever they do I will judge them". I remember when September 11 happened. It was very horrible. I was really terrified. The media was playing horrible things about the Muslim people. I understand what happened was an awful thing. I was very sad because a lot of innocent people got killed and they didn’t deserve to killed. The people were afraid of Muslims because the media kept saying things about Muslims, and people don’t know the truth, but they need to understand that the whole national isn’t the same. We all are human beings but we are definitely not the same. People are different. When I watched the video. I know they going thought basic on daily. It was very important to me to see whole people come down to vote for the Muslim guy who want to be senator. Keith Ellen was the first ever Muslim senator in America. Keith Ellen proved that Muslims are just as equal as other people, and yes we should get the chance to be equal. I even had some problems going to Minnesota. It was almost a quarter 'till noon when i arrived at the airport. My plane was arranged to leave five after twelve. I hurried and got my baggage checked. As i was walking to the gates, surprisingly two officers pulled me over and told me " Ma'am we are going to check you for any weapons". Astonished i asked " What is with you guys?". The officers replied in a deep powerful voice and said "No questions asked". I was very embarrassed to see almost all the people at the gates starring at me like i am crazy. The officers treated me so disrespectfully, i was disgusted. A couple of times I turned and asked him "Are you doing this just because I am a Muslim". And again i was ignored and silence filled the air. A couple of hours later i was finally set free to get on the next plane, but there was one problem. It was really later than i expected. I was very angry that the officers kept me this long. I was very hungry and tired, and most of all I was late to my cousin's wedding.
After this dreadful experience, I often asked myself why is this happening?, why can't Muslims be equal?, I had so many questions going through my head that i couldn't even speak, not even think right. Those questions that i once had in my head still go through my mind even today, and that is very ridiculous.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Accomplishments of Few (by Daniel Wolfe)
I really enjoyed the videos we watched on James Stewart and DJ Gregory. They were both very moving and had some very inspiring themes in them. The first one that really jumped out to me was perseverance. Both James Stewart and DJ Gregory have come leaps and bounds to achieve great things, and it wasn’t easy for either of them. They went through very trying events and had to overcome many things to achieve the goals they did. What really grabbed my attention was the very beginning of the film on James Stewart.
The film begins with someone interviewing Mr. Stewart and asking him “Are you the most dominant performer in any sport today?” and Stewart simply answers, “yes”. To me that says a lot about him as a person and as an entertainer. To say that is a huge statement is understatement. James Stewart must have an extreme amount of self confidence to be able to say that and further more, to believe it. But for me the most impressing thing about him wasn’t what he had achieved just as far as riding goes. It was what he had to go through to do it.
In Motocross for the time James Stewart grew up in, it was very unacceptable to be a black rider. Not only that, but his family wasn’t wealthy and his dad had to work very hard to help him achieve his goals. But through all this, James Stewart persevered and became the amazing athlete he is today.
The film begins with someone interviewing Mr. Stewart and asking him “Are you the most dominant performer in any sport today?” and Stewart simply answers, “yes”. To me that says a lot about him as a person and as an entertainer. To say that is a huge statement is understatement. James Stewart must have an extreme amount of self confidence to be able to say that and further more, to believe it. But for me the most impressing thing about him wasn’t what he had achieved just as far as riding goes. It was what he had to go through to do it.
In Motocross for the time James Stewart grew up in, it was very unacceptable to be a black rider. Not only that, but his family wasn’t wealthy and his dad had to work very hard to help him achieve his goals. But through all this, James Stewart persevered and became the amazing athlete he is today.
Introduction from Shukri
My name is shukri. i am very ougoing person. I have a great personality with open minded. i like to respect another no matter what race they are because I think everybody deserve to respect. i like to to go shopping, and hangout with my friends. I like to help people. I choose my essay two it has a lot good information, and I really like the essay and have good themes . I like enjoyed the proflie.
Andy Warhol Poem by Steven
Inside the twisted mind of Andy Warhol by: Steve Tilley
His name is Andy Warhol
He is one of the strangest guys I ever saw
He lives to paint
To many he is also a saint
He paints the most random things
Known for painting a can of soup
He likes to distort photos
He even dressed in drag
He’s made the cover of almost every art mag
The king of pop art he was
Andy painted what was on his mind
Though the critics were rarely kind
He is like a curious child
When he paints, he lets his mind go wild
He lets his paintbrush be his eyes
His name is Andy Warhol
He is one of the strangest guys I ever saw
He lives to paint
To many he is also a saint
He paints the most random things
Known for painting a can of soup
He likes to distort photos
He even dressed in drag
He’s made the cover of almost every art mag
The king of pop art he was
Andy painted what was on his mind
Though the critics were rarely kind
He is like a curious child
When he paints, he lets his mind go wild
He lets his paintbrush be his eyes
It’s almost as if he never tries
Profile Essay from Steven
Jonathan Daniel Hughes
College Student, The Ohio State UniversityDublin, Ohio
Jon Hughes is a freshman at The Ohio State University. Many things have changed in his life within the past few years. He went from being a normal high school student, enjoying his youth, to getting engaged too young and moving out of his home. New responsibilities changed Jon’s perspective on life. Now single and in college, Jon is finding himself back where he started.
I was pretty pampered, I think we all know that. I really liked moving out, I liked the farm out there dude. The farm life is great. Out in the middle of the country, nobody for miles accept for that one creepy neighbor that lives behind us. I’m rather scared of him and I don’t want to go to his property. Just being out on your own, is different. It’s a shock at first because you take so much for granted. You don’t even think about it when you’re living out there. Once I moved out there, it became like a pride thing not to take money from anybody and just be able to live on my own. I think the money thing is a huge shock for people when they move out. Money is a huge thing, moving out and just having to take care of yourself you take a lot for granted, you really do. Another thing is living with other people. My mom says you never actually know somebody until you live with them and like understand their habits. I mean you really learn a lot by moving in with people. It’s a real shock at first having to deal with each other because you both come from different households with different views on the way things should be done. You believe the dishes should be done, I believe that once I’m done eating out of the dog bowl and that’s dirty also, maybe we should wash enough dishes to get us through the next couple of days. I mean you see the way I do laundry when I was living out there, I’d be like, I’m all out of underwear and I’ll put four pairs of underwear in the washer and leave all the other shirts and jeans on the floor. Just living on your own is a shock at first. It takes time to get used to it.
Within almost exactly a year, I went from having my first girlfriend ever, to getting engaged. I think my relationship with girls has changed. I don’t know if I’d say for the better, but I defiantly talk to more girls now. I was defiantly more shallow back in the day. My view on things has changed.
All that really matters to me anymore is being successful. It used to be about being happy and all that stuff. I will not settle for anything less than 12 million a year…after taxes (laughter). I see a lot in life. I used to kinda wonder what I was going to do. It’s always a matter of ok I’m going to take the next step. Now it’s like if I see something it’s like I know what I gotta do. I want to be successful and I know what I gotta do. I used to just want to major in business and own a horse barn. Dude, I’m majoring political science or criminal justice. I got great grades right now, I’m a 3.8 student. I made dean’s list first two quarters. I had a 4. Last quarter. You know how you have seven classes in high school? Ok I dropped out of one class last quarter, so I had two classes and two A’s right? Those two A’s are more than I had ever gotten on any report card in high school. Just right there alone. I just want to be successful and make good money, I want to find a good wife…better than Kelly (laughter). Better looking, better attitude, nicer, prettier, smarter. All that stuff. Basically not a man. And settle down with her and have kids. I want to go out to Duke for law school. That’s like my main focus right now.
I think that the American dream is simple; life, liberty, and property. To be able to live your life the way you want to be able to live it, liberty, to be able to live, to be free, to make your own choices. To do what you want in life and property, to be able to own things, to be able to have possessions in your life, to be able to surround yourself with stuff and to be a successful person. And that’s the American Dream. That’s what we’re biased on. To be able to do what we want with our lives and be successful and not have anything to hold us back. It’s all about what we make it. The American dream is about being different from anybody. Your American dream could be working construction and that’s what you make it. Mine could be working at the Corral for the rest of my life and that’s what I make it. But the American dream is whatever anybody wants to make it. It’s not one big thing. It’s just those simple things. Living your life, being free to live your life the way you want to live it, and having the ability to gain wealth and possessions and to have things in life. I mean possessions can’t make you happy. I don’t really like that people say that money can’t buy you happiness, but you know what? There’s a lot of people who beg the differ. The guy who’s getting divorced because his wife is killing him for not being able to pay off the mortgages and their kids don’t have enough clothes and food. Money might make that guys life a little happier, make his life easier. The American dream is just about being successful and live your life the way you want to live it. That’s what is so great about this country. You can be whoever you want to be here.
Nobody’s happy where they are at. If you’re happy where you’re at, you don’t deserve to live (laughter). If you’re happy where you’re at you’re useless. You should never settle for who you are, you should always want to do better in life. You can be happy where you’re at, but you should always strive for more. Am I happy where I’m at? Nah. I don’t know. I’m shit broke, I should probably get back in shape, I should quit smoking. Those are my three things right now. Other than that; and those are three minor things when you look at live. When you really look at life in the big picture, getting back in shape, quitting smoking, and being broke, those are pretty minor things. I’m not a raging alcoholic, I’m not a raging drug addict. I have the will to live. I have a lot of friends in my life. I have a lot of people that love me. I’m very happy for the way my life is turning out. I went through a really bad spell when me and Kelly broke up. I think you saw my post breakup gigantic beard and long hair that went down past my ears. You know another thing I actually really like? Moiety, and here is why. When I was in high school, wrestling was the thing I centered everything around. It was a physical activity that I was good at. I centered everything around it. And once I got out of high school and me and Kelly broke up, I ran everyday, I lifted everyday and just focused on wrestling. It took my mind off of it. But moiety gives me a reason to go out for a run. It gives me a reason to lift a few weights. It gives me a reason not to smoke during the day. You know what I mean? I think that every person should do some kind of physical activity. You have to do physical activity. That’s why people are happy because it releases endorphins into your system out of your brain and it just makes you a better person. And I’m really trying to use moiety as a way of getting back on track and giving me a reason to do things. It makes me a lot happier.
Everything that you do in life, you always feel like you’re screwing up. That’s the way I feel a lot. But when you look back on it, every horrible thing that has happened to you, every ounce of pain you feel, you grow from it. Everybody says that’s stupid, but it’s true. You actually grow from it. There’s just so much more to life than what you’re doing right now. No matter how bad you screwed up, there is always a way out. Live your life and learn from your life. Don’t make the same mistakes twice. Everyday is a learning experience, and that’s the way it is. That’s why God put us on this earth, to learn and to grow and become better people. Everything that happens to you, happens for a reason. Just live your life, chase your dreams. Everything else that happens, happens for a reason. You just gotta learn from it and grow from it no matter what it is.
I was pretty pampered, I think we all know that. I really liked moving out, I liked the farm out there dude. The farm life is great. Out in the middle of the country, nobody for miles accept for that one creepy neighbor that lives behind us. I’m rather scared of him and I don’t want to go to his property. Just being out on your own, is different. It’s a shock at first because you take so much for granted. You don’t even think about it when you’re living out there. Once I moved out there, it became like a pride thing not to take money from anybody and just be able to live on my own. I think the money thing is a huge shock for people when they move out. Money is a huge thing, moving out and just having to take care of yourself you take a lot for granted, you really do. Another thing is living with other people. My mom says you never actually know somebody until you live with them and like understand their habits. I mean you really learn a lot by moving in with people. It’s a real shock at first having to deal with each other because you both come from different households with different views on the way things should be done. You believe the dishes should be done, I believe that once I’m done eating out of the dog bowl and that’s dirty also, maybe we should wash enough dishes to get us through the next couple of days. I mean you see the way I do laundry when I was living out there, I’d be like, I’m all out of underwear and I’ll put four pairs of underwear in the washer and leave all the other shirts and jeans on the floor. Just living on your own is a shock at first. It takes time to get used to it.
Within almost exactly a year, I went from having my first girlfriend ever, to getting engaged. I think my relationship with girls has changed. I don’t know if I’d say for the better, but I defiantly talk to more girls now. I was defiantly more shallow back in the day. My view on things has changed.
All that really matters to me anymore is being successful. It used to be about being happy and all that stuff. I will not settle for anything less than 12 million a year…after taxes (laughter). I see a lot in life. I used to kinda wonder what I was going to do. It’s always a matter of ok I’m going to take the next step. Now it’s like if I see something it’s like I know what I gotta do. I want to be successful and I know what I gotta do. I used to just want to major in business and own a horse barn. Dude, I’m majoring political science or criminal justice. I got great grades right now, I’m a 3.8 student. I made dean’s list first two quarters. I had a 4. Last quarter. You know how you have seven classes in high school? Ok I dropped out of one class last quarter, so I had two classes and two A’s right? Those two A’s are more than I had ever gotten on any report card in high school. Just right there alone. I just want to be successful and make good money, I want to find a good wife…better than Kelly (laughter). Better looking, better attitude, nicer, prettier, smarter. All that stuff. Basically not a man. And settle down with her and have kids. I want to go out to Duke for law school. That’s like my main focus right now.
I think that the American dream is simple; life, liberty, and property. To be able to live your life the way you want to be able to live it, liberty, to be able to live, to be free, to make your own choices. To do what you want in life and property, to be able to own things, to be able to have possessions in your life, to be able to surround yourself with stuff and to be a successful person. And that’s the American Dream. That’s what we’re biased on. To be able to do what we want with our lives and be successful and not have anything to hold us back. It’s all about what we make it. The American dream is about being different from anybody. Your American dream could be working construction and that’s what you make it. Mine could be working at the Corral for the rest of my life and that’s what I make it. But the American dream is whatever anybody wants to make it. It’s not one big thing. It’s just those simple things. Living your life, being free to live your life the way you want to live it, and having the ability to gain wealth and possessions and to have things in life. I mean possessions can’t make you happy. I don’t really like that people say that money can’t buy you happiness, but you know what? There’s a lot of people who beg the differ. The guy who’s getting divorced because his wife is killing him for not being able to pay off the mortgages and their kids don’t have enough clothes and food. Money might make that guys life a little happier, make his life easier. The American dream is just about being successful and live your life the way you want to live it. That’s what is so great about this country. You can be whoever you want to be here.
Nobody’s happy where they are at. If you’re happy where you’re at, you don’t deserve to live (laughter). If you’re happy where you’re at you’re useless. You should never settle for who you are, you should always want to do better in life. You can be happy where you’re at, but you should always strive for more. Am I happy where I’m at? Nah. I don’t know. I’m shit broke, I should probably get back in shape, I should quit smoking. Those are my three things right now. Other than that; and those are three minor things when you look at live. When you really look at life in the big picture, getting back in shape, quitting smoking, and being broke, those are pretty minor things. I’m not a raging alcoholic, I’m not a raging drug addict. I have the will to live. I have a lot of friends in my life. I have a lot of people that love me. I’m very happy for the way my life is turning out. I went through a really bad spell when me and Kelly broke up. I think you saw my post breakup gigantic beard and long hair that went down past my ears. You know another thing I actually really like? Moiety, and here is why. When I was in high school, wrestling was the thing I centered everything around. It was a physical activity that I was good at. I centered everything around it. And once I got out of high school and me and Kelly broke up, I ran everyday, I lifted everyday and just focused on wrestling. It took my mind off of it. But moiety gives me a reason to go out for a run. It gives me a reason to lift a few weights. It gives me a reason not to smoke during the day. You know what I mean? I think that every person should do some kind of physical activity. You have to do physical activity. That’s why people are happy because it releases endorphins into your system out of your brain and it just makes you a better person. And I’m really trying to use moiety as a way of getting back on track and giving me a reason to do things. It makes me a lot happier.
Everything that you do in life, you always feel like you’re screwing up. That’s the way I feel a lot. But when you look back on it, every horrible thing that has happened to you, every ounce of pain you feel, you grow from it. Everybody says that’s stupid, but it’s true. You actually grow from it. There’s just so much more to life than what you’re doing right now. No matter how bad you screwed up, there is always a way out. Live your life and learn from your life. Don’t make the same mistakes twice. Everyday is a learning experience, and that’s the way it is. That’s why God put us on this earth, to learn and to grow and become better people. Everything that happens to you, happens for a reason. Just live your life, chase your dreams. Everything else that happens, happens for a reason. You just gotta learn from it and grow from it no matter what it is.
Profile Essay
Chuck Eckel
Chuck Eckel is a very prominent business man in Worthington, Ohio. He owns local land and buildings where small businesses get there start. He is most known though for being the founder and owner of a local market called Eckel’s Market off of Sawmill and Hard Road in Worthington. When you think of Chuck Eckel one word should come to mind, success. Throughout his childhood he struggled to survive but he overcame the obstacles that he faced and is now one of the most well known business men her in central Ohio. Having run his store for more than 20 years and having to deal with customers, employees, and other hassles of the job force it seems as though he has still managed to keep his life intact and somewhat similar to the regular person’s. No matter what comes at him, he always seems to take it in stride. This is his story…
Well I grew up in a middle class neighborhood on the south side of Columbus with 11 brothers and sisters and then my mom and dad. My dad was a hardworking guy, never made much money. He just tried to take care of us kids and I pretty much learned how to work hard from my dad. He had two or three jobs a lot of times, so it was pretty hectic. My dad, either my mom or my dad, were probably the most influential people in my life. My dad probably more because he worked so hard and struggled so much to support all 12 kids and to put food on the table. It was so hard for him, I think, he drank a little bit too much so he had trouble with that for a number of years and I learned that you really can mix drinking that much with families. I looked up to my dad for all his hard work and I could learn some other things from his bad habits, but I learned that the good and the bad from my dad.
I pretty much started working by the time I was 10 years old. My family had a paper route that was kind of passed down through the boys of the family. I probably had that job from the time when I was 10 probably till I was 15 in high school; we just got other jobs so probably for about five years. I then worked at my school to help earn my families tuition that was then only like $400 a year but it seemed like a lot more because you were only making $1.50 an hour or something.
Around that time we got interrupted because some lady wanted to talk to him. He wasn’t so happy about that. Once that was over we then started talking about how he moved up here and started a business…
Well…my brother in-law opened up a market right after I got out of high school and I worked there for 9 ½ years just learning the business about how you treat people and how you just try and give a fair price and a decent product so they’ll come to you instead of going to a major store like Lawson’s or whatever. Pretty soon after that someone mentioned to me that I should try and open up a store in the northwest part of Columbus. I thought it would be hard to do, but after the persuasion of my father in-law and my wife I finally decided to give it a try. When I first started off up here all I wanted to do was survive. I didn’t know with the Dairy Mart next to me, and a drive thru on the other side, and me being the third wheel, I didn’t know if it was big enough for all three of us but I knew that I put everything I had, every little bit of money I saved, into this. We even put the money from my wedding into this. We tried to get a $10000 dollar loan from the bank but they turned us down. I asked the land lord if he’d let me slide for a few months just so we could get started here, and he said it would be alright. I finally opened up about three weeks after I was supposed to. I opened up about halfway through the day and I think we did 300 some dollars. The second day we did like $900 and I knew from that point on that everything was gonna be alright.
After we finished talking about starting out I then asked him about how an average day at work goes and what he enjoys most about his business.
Well, I use to go to market about three times a week. I’d wake up at four and go out to the airport and I’d pick out the produce I wanted and then bring it back here in my truck and unload it all. After that I balance my registers. My first 10 years I didn’t have the lottery so I only had one register to balance. I’d count the money and make sure everything, you know, was balanced. I would then open at seven. My first number of years her I opened and closed. Open at seven in the morning and close by 10:30 at night. When I would drive home I’d fall asleep driving most nights. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open, people would say you can’t work 100 hours a week. Well, back then I was pretty much working 100 hours a week easily. People say you can’t work that much but if you add up the week when you open and work 15 hours a day, 7 days a week, and go out to market three times a week as well, you can add up the hours pretty quickly.
I enjoy seeing the people that come in my store every day, that gets to be like family. Like the TV show Cheers, people just like coming to that place and you see so many of the same people every day or every other day, you just get to be like a family. It’s also nice getting along with your workers as well. I opened Eckel’s when I was around 25 ½ and most of the guys that work for me now are between probably 18 and 28. They just get to be like my kids so I enjoy that. I enjoy watching them, grow up and learn, and help them out. I want to be a helper; I just don’t want to be a boss. Just kind of be a friend and get along with them and have fun with them. I just want my store to be more of a family store.
We were interrupted again after this. After he was done with whatever it was he started talking about his experiences with college…
Well, you know, growing up I always wanted to go to college cause my dad didn’t go and I wanted to go to college. I could’ve gone for free; I wrestled in high school and had an opportunity to get a partial scholarship there and all the rest would be paid for. I just decided not to go, I probably should’ve. I wish to this day but, I just had an opportunity to work hard. I worked as many 60 some hour weeks I could just to start having money. I wanted to buy a car first and that got me started. One thing just led to another. But, if I had could go back and change anything I’d definitely go to college and get an education because now that I got three kids and one just graduated from college and I have to more in college. It was important to me that they were going to get an education. I never had ambitions of them running the store because this is no easy way to make a living when you’re working Friday’s, Saturdays, and Sunday’s and everybody else is out there with their families having fun. Get them through college, and I think the main body of my work would be done. If you raise your kids to be contributing adults to society in a good manner and to get their educations, there’s probably nothing more to me than that. I don’t think I was successful for a while without a college education, it’s tough. I don’t know how I made that decision.
To me the American dream is being able to support your family, have a house to live in, and get your kids through college, like I said before, and be good citizens. I’m getting close to accomplishing those; I’m still trying to hang on to the married life. I’m getting close but I still got two more kids to get through college, but to me that’s the American dream. Eventually, by the time I’m 60, I won’t have to work anymore. I would’ve put in enough time and gathered enough assets through my real estate that I never have to work again.
After talking about some serious topics I decided to throw a curve at him and ask him what he thought were some of the funniest experiences he’s had to deal with. Like with customers or employees. Since I started working with him about a year ago I have been in some pretty sticking situations that I hoped he would elaborate on but he didn’t. Some pretty shady stuff tends to go down there a lot it seems. Like, just last week we had a situation with a lady being somewhat of a crack whore, I guess. I’ve also been involved personally with someone getting caught smoking crack in the cooler while I was there, and I’ve also had to deal with a gambling addict just to name a few.
Well, there is a lot of funny things that have happened here. I came in one time and had a high school kid and an adult, that was 25, and I looked around on the counter and there was some glasses of beer sitting around in Styrofoam cups, and they didn’t expect me to stop in. Like, here is a high school student that’s not even allowed to slice on the meat slicer and they are drinking beer with this 25 year old guy. So that was one of them but I told these guys I don’t have a license to drink here in the store. That would just kill me when people would drink in my store. So they would go fishing, and they would always take a twelve-pack and go fishing. Well, I didn’t care what they did out there, just as long as the oldest guy bough the beer or whatever. Then they thought it would be funny to come in here and hide all the beer cans here in my store. They’d hide some back in the cooler, under the deli, so I’d think they’d be drinking it in here, but they always thought that was the funniest thing. That and the April Fools last year when Mike thought it would be funny to put on my sign that we had a sewage backup and that Eckel’s would be closed tomorrow because of it, and underneath it say April Fools. I walked in that morning and didn’t even see the sign; it was right on the outside of my building, on the big reader board. Well, I didn’t see it. It was up there part of the day. Well, I didn’t see it and I didn’t find it that funny at all either. And then they switched around all my deli signs to say something different like chocolate pudding was on the bologna, I didn’t notice that all day either. So everything we had in the deli was either tapioca pudding, chocolate pudding, potato salad, German potato salad, or something else and all my signs were mixed up and they thought that would be funny as heck but I really didn’t think it was that funny. That was a couple of things. Little things like that, they thought were more funny than me.
After that I thought I’d get serious again for the last question and I decided to ask him why he has become so successful in life coming from such a humble background and what he plans on doing in the future
I’m only successful because I have been able to take care of my family. I’ve never taken the easy road. Everything I’ve done, growing up it seems, I’ve taken the hard road instead of the easy road, not that college would be the easy road. It’s just if you didn’t have the money you weren’t gonna get it. Am I successful? I guess you can say just raising your kids and taking care of them, and in the future what do I want to do? I don’t know, I think in the next eight years or so either sell this place to somebody that I think can appreciate making a living off or it or hire somebody to run it, take it easy for a change. It’s probably been 10, 11, 12 years since I’ve had a week off. I did take 4 days off for the Ohio State National Championship game, but that’s the last four days in a row I’ve had off. That’s hard. You grow up and not take your kids on vacation like most other people. That’s not easy you know. They did play baseball all summer long so I like being on the baseball field with them. When I’d get off work I’d coach them a lot. Go out on the field and just enjoy that. That was our enjoyment. I don’t think my children really realize what they missed. Of course, sometimes they go on vacation with the friends, and they taken a couple of trips with the in-laws and my wife, while I stayed here. So that was kind of hard, but overall, hopefully, everything goes good and things don’t turn out to bad or anything like that where I won’t be able to retire at 60 years old but I hope to be done when I’m 60 years old I guess.
So I guess you can say that he’s been pretty successful with his life based on where he’s come from and what he’s had to go through. I’m sure there is more to his story than just this but he’s one not to tell you the whole story, so I don’t know. I had a fun time getting to know more about him though. He also enjoyed it as well. He thought it was kind of funny that I would choose a guy like him because it seems like he doesn’t really pay that much attention to what all he’s accomplished in life. I don’t think he really will until he retires. Who knows when that will be?
Chuck Eckel is a very prominent business man in Worthington, Ohio. He owns local land and buildings where small businesses get there start. He is most known though for being the founder and owner of a local market called Eckel’s Market off of Sawmill and Hard Road in Worthington. When you think of Chuck Eckel one word should come to mind, success. Throughout his childhood he struggled to survive but he overcame the obstacles that he faced and is now one of the most well known business men her in central Ohio. Having run his store for more than 20 years and having to deal with customers, employees, and other hassles of the job force it seems as though he has still managed to keep his life intact and somewhat similar to the regular person’s. No matter what comes at him, he always seems to take it in stride. This is his story…
Well I grew up in a middle class neighborhood on the south side of Columbus with 11 brothers and sisters and then my mom and dad. My dad was a hardworking guy, never made much money. He just tried to take care of us kids and I pretty much learned how to work hard from my dad. He had two or three jobs a lot of times, so it was pretty hectic. My dad, either my mom or my dad, were probably the most influential people in my life. My dad probably more because he worked so hard and struggled so much to support all 12 kids and to put food on the table. It was so hard for him, I think, he drank a little bit too much so he had trouble with that for a number of years and I learned that you really can mix drinking that much with families. I looked up to my dad for all his hard work and I could learn some other things from his bad habits, but I learned that the good and the bad from my dad.
I pretty much started working by the time I was 10 years old. My family had a paper route that was kind of passed down through the boys of the family. I probably had that job from the time when I was 10 probably till I was 15 in high school; we just got other jobs so probably for about five years. I then worked at my school to help earn my families tuition that was then only like $400 a year but it seemed like a lot more because you were only making $1.50 an hour or something.
Around that time we got interrupted because some lady wanted to talk to him. He wasn’t so happy about that. Once that was over we then started talking about how he moved up here and started a business…
Well…my brother in-law opened up a market right after I got out of high school and I worked there for 9 ½ years just learning the business about how you treat people and how you just try and give a fair price and a decent product so they’ll come to you instead of going to a major store like Lawson’s or whatever. Pretty soon after that someone mentioned to me that I should try and open up a store in the northwest part of Columbus. I thought it would be hard to do, but after the persuasion of my father in-law and my wife I finally decided to give it a try. When I first started off up here all I wanted to do was survive. I didn’t know with the Dairy Mart next to me, and a drive thru on the other side, and me being the third wheel, I didn’t know if it was big enough for all three of us but I knew that I put everything I had, every little bit of money I saved, into this. We even put the money from my wedding into this. We tried to get a $10000 dollar loan from the bank but they turned us down. I asked the land lord if he’d let me slide for a few months just so we could get started here, and he said it would be alright. I finally opened up about three weeks after I was supposed to. I opened up about halfway through the day and I think we did 300 some dollars. The second day we did like $900 and I knew from that point on that everything was gonna be alright.
After we finished talking about starting out I then asked him about how an average day at work goes and what he enjoys most about his business.
Well, I use to go to market about three times a week. I’d wake up at four and go out to the airport and I’d pick out the produce I wanted and then bring it back here in my truck and unload it all. After that I balance my registers. My first 10 years I didn’t have the lottery so I only had one register to balance. I’d count the money and make sure everything, you know, was balanced. I would then open at seven. My first number of years her I opened and closed. Open at seven in the morning and close by 10:30 at night. When I would drive home I’d fall asleep driving most nights. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open, people would say you can’t work 100 hours a week. Well, back then I was pretty much working 100 hours a week easily. People say you can’t work that much but if you add up the week when you open and work 15 hours a day, 7 days a week, and go out to market three times a week as well, you can add up the hours pretty quickly.
I enjoy seeing the people that come in my store every day, that gets to be like family. Like the TV show Cheers, people just like coming to that place and you see so many of the same people every day or every other day, you just get to be like a family. It’s also nice getting along with your workers as well. I opened Eckel’s when I was around 25 ½ and most of the guys that work for me now are between probably 18 and 28. They just get to be like my kids so I enjoy that. I enjoy watching them, grow up and learn, and help them out. I want to be a helper; I just don’t want to be a boss. Just kind of be a friend and get along with them and have fun with them. I just want my store to be more of a family store.
We were interrupted again after this. After he was done with whatever it was he started talking about his experiences with college…
Well, you know, growing up I always wanted to go to college cause my dad didn’t go and I wanted to go to college. I could’ve gone for free; I wrestled in high school and had an opportunity to get a partial scholarship there and all the rest would be paid for. I just decided not to go, I probably should’ve. I wish to this day but, I just had an opportunity to work hard. I worked as many 60 some hour weeks I could just to start having money. I wanted to buy a car first and that got me started. One thing just led to another. But, if I had could go back and change anything I’d definitely go to college and get an education because now that I got three kids and one just graduated from college and I have to more in college. It was important to me that they were going to get an education. I never had ambitions of them running the store because this is no easy way to make a living when you’re working Friday’s, Saturdays, and Sunday’s and everybody else is out there with their families having fun. Get them through college, and I think the main body of my work would be done. If you raise your kids to be contributing adults to society in a good manner and to get their educations, there’s probably nothing more to me than that. I don’t think I was successful for a while without a college education, it’s tough. I don’t know how I made that decision.
To me the American dream is being able to support your family, have a house to live in, and get your kids through college, like I said before, and be good citizens. I’m getting close to accomplishing those; I’m still trying to hang on to the married life. I’m getting close but I still got two more kids to get through college, but to me that’s the American dream. Eventually, by the time I’m 60, I won’t have to work anymore. I would’ve put in enough time and gathered enough assets through my real estate that I never have to work again.
After talking about some serious topics I decided to throw a curve at him and ask him what he thought were some of the funniest experiences he’s had to deal with. Like with customers or employees. Since I started working with him about a year ago I have been in some pretty sticking situations that I hoped he would elaborate on but he didn’t. Some pretty shady stuff tends to go down there a lot it seems. Like, just last week we had a situation with a lady being somewhat of a crack whore, I guess. I’ve also been involved personally with someone getting caught smoking crack in the cooler while I was there, and I’ve also had to deal with a gambling addict just to name a few.
Well, there is a lot of funny things that have happened here. I came in one time and had a high school kid and an adult, that was 25, and I looked around on the counter and there was some glasses of beer sitting around in Styrofoam cups, and they didn’t expect me to stop in. Like, here is a high school student that’s not even allowed to slice on the meat slicer and they are drinking beer with this 25 year old guy. So that was one of them but I told these guys I don’t have a license to drink here in the store. That would just kill me when people would drink in my store. So they would go fishing, and they would always take a twelve-pack and go fishing. Well, I didn’t care what they did out there, just as long as the oldest guy bough the beer or whatever. Then they thought it would be funny to come in here and hide all the beer cans here in my store. They’d hide some back in the cooler, under the deli, so I’d think they’d be drinking it in here, but they always thought that was the funniest thing. That and the April Fools last year when Mike thought it would be funny to put on my sign that we had a sewage backup and that Eckel’s would be closed tomorrow because of it, and underneath it say April Fools. I walked in that morning and didn’t even see the sign; it was right on the outside of my building, on the big reader board. Well, I didn’t see it. It was up there part of the day. Well, I didn’t see it and I didn’t find it that funny at all either. And then they switched around all my deli signs to say something different like chocolate pudding was on the bologna, I didn’t notice that all day either. So everything we had in the deli was either tapioca pudding, chocolate pudding, potato salad, German potato salad, or something else and all my signs were mixed up and they thought that would be funny as heck but I really didn’t think it was that funny. That was a couple of things. Little things like that, they thought were more funny than me.
After that I thought I’d get serious again for the last question and I decided to ask him why he has become so successful in life coming from such a humble background and what he plans on doing in the future
I’m only successful because I have been able to take care of my family. I’ve never taken the easy road. Everything I’ve done, growing up it seems, I’ve taken the hard road instead of the easy road, not that college would be the easy road. It’s just if you didn’t have the money you weren’t gonna get it. Am I successful? I guess you can say just raising your kids and taking care of them, and in the future what do I want to do? I don’t know, I think in the next eight years or so either sell this place to somebody that I think can appreciate making a living off or it or hire somebody to run it, take it easy for a change. It’s probably been 10, 11, 12 years since I’ve had a week off. I did take 4 days off for the Ohio State National Championship game, but that’s the last four days in a row I’ve had off. That’s hard. You grow up and not take your kids on vacation like most other people. That’s not easy you know. They did play baseball all summer long so I like being on the baseball field with them. When I’d get off work I’d coach them a lot. Go out on the field and just enjoy that. That was our enjoyment. I don’t think my children really realize what they missed. Of course, sometimes they go on vacation with the friends, and they taken a couple of trips with the in-laws and my wife, while I stayed here. So that was kind of hard, but overall, hopefully, everything goes good and things don’t turn out to bad or anything like that where I won’t be able to retire at 60 years old but I hope to be done when I’m 60 years old I guess.
So I guess you can say that he’s been pretty successful with his life based on where he’s come from and what he’s had to go through. I’m sure there is more to his story than just this but he’s one not to tell you the whole story, so I don’t know. I had a fun time getting to know more about him though. He also enjoyed it as well. He thought it was kind of funny that I would choose a guy like him because it seems like he doesn’t really pay that much attention to what all he’s accomplished in life. I don’t think he really will until he retires. Who knows when that will be?
Defining oneself can be difficult--Kris
I am a lifelong native of Ohio, despite my grievances with the balmy, humid conditions of the summer season of this temperate zone. Come July, I usually find myself wishing to be in the dry air if New Mexico or the Virgin Islands, or yearn to travel north in search of the milder summers that states like Michigan provide. I hold nostalgic feelings and relics to a high regard, but try to live in the now as best as I can, looking forward optimistically. I passionately collect anything that I feel is exceptional, rare on this earth. Mostly irreplaceable relics that have formerly belonged to US Presidents, business tycoons, etc. I recently purchased a handkerchief that belonged to FDR! It has his initials intricately sewn on it, it light blue. It is from the late twenties, before he became President. I love cats, domesticated or wild. If a cat presents itself in a situation, I will drop whatever I am doing or whomever I am talking to in an attempt to get into that felines mind and win its favor. If I live to be an octogenarian, I will probably try to instigate a death by large cat, if there are still any around by that time. I like they way they slink when they hunt, they way they toy with their prey and often devour it afterwards. The thought of my carcass rotting away in a box underground...I find very unsettling. I like other critters a lot too, and most people that I meet. One of my favorite collections is of tiny dead critters that I have found. Little lizards, snakes, tiny turtles and huge insects. I really enjoy making people laugh for some reason, I just think life is very funny and every ounce of humor should be extracted enthusiastically. I haven't owned a television since 2003, but I love watching sitcoms on DVD - such as Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Eastbound & Down, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and 30 Rock. I have a very unpractical love affair with vintage German automobiles - simple German engineering is the finest there ever was, but everything needs maintenance over time. I have, just now, developed carpal tunnel syndrome, so this interview is over.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)