Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream

Dumb like a Fox

Dumb like a Fox Don Unis THIS IS A story about my father. OK. Let me give a little background leading up to the facts. It wasn't my real dad. It was my stepdad. My [biological] dad had come here in 1917running from the Ottoman Empire, joined the army, went back to France, fought in World War I, and became an American citizen. By age three, my dad died. I was about three, three and a half. My mother remarried years later, and the man that raised me, his name was Sam Shamey. He worked at the Ford Rotunda. Now, the Ford Rotunda burned down in 1963. The Ford Rotunda was on Schaefer Road, right across from the old Ford world headquarters, which was a four-story building. The Ford Rotunda had been brought to Dearborn from the world's fair, and it was a round, circular building, and it was the showplace of the Ford Motor Company. My dad worked there. He was an Arab immigrant. A laborer, who worked maintenance. He worked cleanup. And, of course, what that meant was that he went to work at night, twelve o'clock at night, and he would mop the floors and scrub the toilets and do all those things where thousands of people would go through every day. One night he was working in the movie theater part of the Rotunda, which was a place where they showed films about the Ford Motor Company and the quality of cars, etc. And as he was cleaning and vacuuming, he noticed a wallet sitting on one of the chairs. Unable to read and write English, he picked up the wallet and opened it, and inside that wallet was fifty one-hundred-dollar bills. Five thousand dollars. Now mind you, this is 1937, 1938, and five thousand dollars would be equivalent to fifty thousand dollars today . . . maybe? Anyways, not able to read and write English but, of course, he knew the value of fifty one-hundred-dollar bills. He folded the Recorded by Sally Howell on March 28,1998, at the Detroit Historical Museum. 103 Work wallet back. Went and got one of his very, very good friends. Went to his boss. His boss's name was Paul. And of course he told his friend about the wallet. He told his boss, "I found this wallet in the movie theater. There's fifty one-hundred-dollar bills in it. Five thousand dollars. Here's the wallet and the money. Give me a receipt that I gave it to you, and here's my witness"—his best friend—"that I gave it to you." The boss looked at him with his eyes wide open and said, "Well, of course, Sam." He gave him a receipt that he found a wallet with fifty onehundred -dollar bills and gave it to him. So they went back to work. Next day he comes to work. Now from the Rotunda over to the Ford world headquarters there was a tunnelthat went underneath Schaefer Road. I had been through that tunnel many times. The boss tells my dad, "Sam, go across the street. Mr. Ford wants to see you." The old man. "Why?" my dad says. "Just go ahead. I don't know why," says the boss. So he goes from the Rotunda. He drops his work. Goes underneath the tunnel. Goes to the fourth floor ofthe Lincoln Mercury Building, as they called it, that overlooked the Ford Rouge Plant. Goes up to the fourthfloor.Goes into Mr. Ford's office, and he had seen Mr. Ford 'cause Mr. Ford, Henry Ford, would walk through the Rotunda occasionally, see what was happening. His secretary tells him, "Sam, go on right into the office. Mr. Ford is waiting for you." So. OK. He walks into the office, and as he walks into the office there's this big desk, and there's Mr. Henry Ford, the original Henry Ford, sitting behind the desk, and one guy is sitting next to him. Another man. Mr. Ford stands up and says, "Sam, how are you?" and he shakes his hand. Says to him, "Sam, you found this wallet?" He says, "Yes, Mr. Ford." He said, "And you turned it in?" He said, "Yes, Mr. Ford." Mr. Ford turns to the guy next to him and says, "See what honest employees I have?" Turns back to my dad and says, "Sam, do you know that there are fifty one-hundred-dollar bills...