Father's Stories

Evil Spirits?
My dear friends:
I am going to tell you about my first experience in the 
United States.  The first day when I arrived from Greece at 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I went to the train depot to take 
the train to Rock Springs, Wyoming.  It was two o'clock in the 
afternoon and the train did not leave until three.  I sat 
in the waiting room.  I did not know a word of English.  
Ten minutes before train time, I stood up and picked up my 
two suitcases - one in each hand), and went to the door that 
led outside.  There were two glass doors which were closed.  
When I leaned forward to put down my suitcases to open the 
door, I saw the door was open. I stood up with my suitcases
in my hands and I saw the door was closed.  I leaned 
forward to put my suitcases down again and the door again 
opened.  I stood up and it closed again.  I looked around 
to see if somebody was opening and closing the door but 
there wasn't anyone.  I stood there wondering what 
evil spirits -- there were in the United States. The 
third time I must have move closer to the door 
unintentionally, and the door opened and did not close.  
Now I knew it was an electrically controlled door, 
and not -- an evil spirit.  And on my first day 
here in the United States I learned of the wonderful 
progress inthis country of liberty.  
Rev. K. Kouklakis, 1946.

Magical Water Fountain?
The following is my second experience in the United 
States. I still do not speak any English.  I am traveling 
on the train from Philadelphia to Rock Springs, Wyoming.  
I had my lunch with me and after eating it, I was thirsty.  
In the front end of the coach was a water fountain.  
I saw people going to the water fountain and drinking.  
I knew that I had to press something to release 
the water but when I went to the fountain I did not see 
anything to press with my hand.  The people behind
me were watching so I pretended I was drinking....
Still very thirsty, I returned to my seat and waited to see
what they pressed when they drank.  Two or three people went to 
get a drink and I went again but I could not see what they 
pressed.  So I again pretended to drink and returned to my 
seat, still very, very thirsty because it was two hours since 
I first tried to drink.  
A fellow who was sitting close to the fountain got off the
train.  I took his seat to see if I could see what the people
were pressing.  A lady with a baby in one arm and a bag in the
other hand went to the fountain and drank, and now I saw her press
a pedal with her foot.
I got up quickly and drank a gallon of water!!
Little by little I was learning the mysteries of these wonderful
states of yours, which are now mine also.  Rev. K. Kouklakis, 1946.

Paying for Dinner
When I first came to the United States I was living in Rock Springs,
Wyoming.
One day I wanted to go to a restaurant to eat, but I didn't
know how to order my food.
I sat at the counter.  At my right side sat a man.  He was eating
meat and potatoes.  I wanted to eat the same, but I only knew a 
few words of English -- "good morning, hello, thank you, you're
welcome, fine, yes and no, give me this, how are you sir" and
so on.  I said to the waitress, "Give me this, " pointing to the
plate the man had.  The waitress knew I was a foreigner, and brought 
me a plate with the same food.  The man had finished eating, and
was reading a newspaper.  The waitress had brought him his bill.  
After I had eaten, I wanted to leave, but the waitress had not 
brought me my bill.  So, I pointed to the man's bill and said, 
"Give me this."  The waitress asked me: "This?"   I said, "Yes, 
give me this."  The waitress took the man's bill, wrote my bill 
and gave me both bills.  The man who was reading, turned his head 
to me, and said, "Thank you, Father."  I said, "You are welcome sir".  
I knew my mistake, but I took the two bills and paid them...
Two or three times each week I would see the same man and he 
would say "Good morning, Father, how are you?"  I would answer 
"Fine, fine...how are you?"  
It cost me a little money, but I made a good friend.   
Rev. K. Kouklakis, 1946.

Grocery Shopping
I have another funny story to tell you.  
The first week after my family came from Greece to 
Rock Springs, Wyoming, my children ate some cereal which a 
Greek friend of mine helped me buy.  My children liked it very 
much, partly on account of the good taste, but mostly on account 
of the pretty pictures of animals which they would cut out 
and play with.
One day I went to the store by myself and I tried to find 
the same cereals, but with different pictures on the 
boxes to make my children happy.  I found some very pretty 
boxes with pictures of cats and dogs on the boxes.  I paid 
for them together with some other groceries and went home.  
My children took the boxes from my arms and were very happy 
with the pretty pictures.  We sat down to breakfast and on 
opening the boxes we were surprised that the cereal was 
different.  This kind was much larger than the cereal we 
had before.  I got my English-Greek dictionary and looked 
up the words that were on the boxes, and I found I had bought 
a nice selection of dog and cat biscuits.  I threw out the 
biscuits but my children cut out the pretty pictures and played 
with them.
I think it would be a good idea to have a picture of a child 
eating on all the cereal boxes and on the boxes of dog and 
cat food, the dogs and cats should be eating.
So, my dear friends, would you please write to the cereal 
and dog and cat food companies and tell them about this so that 
other foreigners will not get confused and make the same mistakes?
Rev. K. Kouklakis.

Look Out!
My dear friends:
During the first year that I was in the United States I learned 
a few words of English every day.  (for example, out, look, 
good morning, hello).  
I knew that "out" meant outside, and "look" meant to see 
someone or something with my eyes.
I was living in Rock Springs, Wyoming.  One day I went hunting 
with a Greek friend of mine.  We were hunting antelope.  
Around eleven o'clock in the morning the wind began to 
blow very hard and it started to snow.  We quickly returned 
to the camp, which we had rented.  It was very cold, so we 
built a campfire inside the tent because it was still snowing.
We ate our lunch around the campfire and then sat down to rest.  
I was reading a Greek newspaper and because I was very tired I 
dozed off and the newspaper fell at my left side close to the 
fire.  The newspaper started to burn and my friend who was 
sitting across the fire from me saw the newspaper burning and 
exclaimed "Look out, Father!".  I thought he saw something 
interesting through the tent opening which was at my right 
side.  I got up quickly and went to the opening, and looked out, 
because I knew that the word "look" meant "to see" and "out" 
meant "outside".  In the meantime my coat was starting to burn.  
I didn't see anything outside but my friend again exclaimed 
in Greek "Kegese" which means "you are on fire".  
I looked down, saw my coat burning, and quickly put the fire out.  
My friend and I laughed about this little accident, and I 
learned that when the two words are used together that 
"look out" means "be careful".
So, please my dear friends, write a letter to the
person who is in charge of the English language, and 
tell him to use words according to their meaning.  
I think this would be a great help to the foreigners.  
Rev. K. Kouklakis.

Geographical Confusion
My friends:
After learning many English words I still make a lot of 
mistakes every day.  The following story is a good example:
The first week after I arrived in Stockton, California from 
the state of Wyoming, I wanted to go to Oakland, California to 
meet a friend of mine.
I took the bus that goes through Byron, Brentwood, Oakley, 
Pittsburg, and Oakland.  I was sleepy and dozed off, but I 
could hear the bus driver calling the name of each town 
which we went through "Byron, Brentwood, Oakley".  When I 
heard "Oakley" I jumped up, grabbed my suitcase and got off 
the bus.  I walked into the bus depot to get a cup of coffee, 
and the bus left.  I went to the telephone booth to call my 
friend to come and pick me up.  But the operator said, "We 
do not have that many number on our telephones."  So, I told 
her the name of my friend, thinking I had the wrong number, but 
she told me that that name was not listed in the telephone 
directory.  I went to the coffee counter and showed my friend's 
name and address to one of the waitresses.  She said to me, 
"Father, this address is in Oakland, and this town is Oakley."
I thought, "What shall I do now?"  The next bus to Oakland 
would not be for four hours.  After an hour a Stockton bus 
came by, so I got on it and came home.
So I learned that close to Stockton there are three 
towns with similar names -- Oakland, Oakley, and Oakdale.
Please, my dear friends would you write a letter to the 
manager of the bus drivers and tell him to give orders 
to his bus drivers to say the names of the towns more clearly.  
Rev. K. Kouklakis.

Respect for the Flag
When I first came to this country, I lived in Rock Springs, 
Wyoming.  One day I wrote a letter to my family in Greece, 
and had to walk across the street to the main post office 
of the town to mail it.  When I was halfway across the street 
I saw that a man was raising the flag up the flagpole in 
front of the post office building.
Immediately I stopped in the middle of the street, 
took off my hat, and saluted the American Flag.  However, 
the other people kept on walking across the street as 
they were before.  They paid no attention to the raising 
of the flag, but kept on going their way.
The green  light came, and cars began to come by in 
front of and behind me, honking their horns for me to move.  
But I remained motionless until the flag was on top of the pole.
On the corner of this main street stood the police station, 
and, from the window, I could see a police officer watching 
me.  This officer called a Greek friend of his, who was 
also a friend of mine, and told him what I had done.  
This friend then took me to visit the police station, because 
he was a photographer and had to take pictures there anyway.
There I explained to them that in my native country, Greece, 
the Flag is honored second only to God.  It is a holy and 
respected object, and everyone shows respect and reverence to it.  
I came to this country with the same enthusiasm and zeal 
for the American Flag.  When I became an American Citizen 
I felt even more reverence towards it.
But unfortunately, most people in the United States do not 
have the proper respect toward the flag.  I remember 
the man who was raising the flag at the post office.  
He still wore a hat on his head and even had a cigar in 
his mouth.  This is respect? When there is a parade, few 
people stand or take off their hats when the flag goes by 
in front of them.  Why?
This lack of respect towards the flag is one thing that I 
do not like in this country.  What is the reason for it? I 
feel that the responsibility lies with the parents and the 
teachers in the schools.
I also do not feel that it is necessary to present the flag 
at every single sports event, parade or other happening.  
In a parade, I do not think every organization that passes 
by, be it a society, riders on horses, or a group of dogs 
and pigs, need to display the flag at the head of their section 
of the parade.  One flag at the head of the entire parade when 
the governor or the mayor of the town is leading it, is sufficient.
If we do not respect the flag of our country, how can we 
have respect for its laws?  The flag is the symbol of our 
country and deserves our deepest reverence and respect.
Rev. K. Kouklakis