Old-School Disability
There used to be a break room at Penn Station somewhere between track 15 and track 18, back before it was upgraded to a “modern” station. My grandfather worked as a conductor for the LIRR starting in the 1940’s right through to the 1970’s and retirement.
There’s an old family story that says he put my aunt through college by gambling in that break room with the other LIRR conductors. An ongoing pinochle game (or it might have been poker – the exact details are fuzzy) was his daughter’s ticket to a higher education. My grandfather, it seemed, worked a late shift on the train, went to work at a bank during the day, and gambled on his break. He did things the old fashioned way.
My aunt told me she didn’t believe it for a long time, but then one day my grandfather brought her to the break room and introduced her to the gang.
“So you’re the girl we’re putting through college,” one of the conductors said.
The others all nodded and shook their heads. There could have been a lot of cigar smoke and the stale smell of sweat, or it could just be my imagination.
My grandfather didn’t need a disability scam. He just needed a pinochle deck and some willing marks — I mean, players.
That, some luck, and a second full time job to supplement the first.
–Joe Lunievicz