“We can say it.  I don’t know what it means but we can say it,” says Woody Allen’s character in Love and Death.  When I was 19 I had to endure my cousins Hart and Jordan riffing on lines from that movie as we travelled together in Greece.  Over and over and over.  Strangely enough I laughed every time.  Good times.

Tomorrow I’m leading the Caplansky’s Team at the “Deli Duel” in support of The Stop.  Among the three competitors I have the most to lose because mine is the only deli involved but that doesn’t matter.  In fact, one of the basic truths of my existence as a Deli Man is the constant comparisons with others.  Schwartz’s, Pancers, Centre Street, Carnegie, Katz’s even drek like the Corned Beef House so I’m kind of used to this.  When people ask me how my meat compares to others’ my response is always the same.  ”I do my best and leave the qualitative analysis to others,” I say.

So it will be tomorrow.  A crowd of people will come and fress and cast ballots.  We all do this in support of a great cause.  I hope we have fine weather and that everyone has a great time.  If you’re free, the event takes place at 1pm at the Wychwood Barns at Christie and St. Clair.  I’d love to see you there.   From what I hear, all the cool kids are coming so you’ll be in good company.

Okay… I was going to leave it there but I just can’t.  For whatever reason I’m compelled to go deeper.  If you’ve been following along at home this won’t surprise you.

I have a funny attitude to competitions of any kind.  Do you remember the “Albert” Canadian Tire commercials?  I was Albert.  I was always small and weak and not very athletic particularly compared to my brothers.  We grew up in a townhouse community in North York where there were a lot of kids and a lot of organised sports.  Road hockey and touch football were the most popular and we used to pick teams by appointing two captains and letting each alternate in picking team members.  Not only was it humiliating enough that I was always the last to be picked but arguments often arose because “we had to have him on our team last time – you guys have to take him this time.”  Seriously, I would stand there looking at my shoes and listen to this.  Of course, discussions often arose about excluding me altogether but my brothers wouldn’t allow that.  ”If he doesn’t play, neither would we,” they’d say.

So I’d play.  I’d rarely touch the ball but I played.  Best of all, I loved playing.  Worst of all this pattern repeated itself when I went out for NYMFA tackle football and even playing on an ice hockey team in a D League at the Ice Gardens.  Truth be told I was an exceptional soccer goalkeeper until my age group hit puberty and everyone grew.  I remained relatively small and since taller goalkeepers were most sought after I switched to football.

Anyway, these experiences were character building. They taught me to enjoy participating without needing to win.  They showed me that I’m the last thing from a quitter.  From a business perspective I shouldn’t be in this Duel.  But from a personal perspective, I simply couldn’t resist.  Its just so much fun to be involved.

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