A Picture is Worth a Thousand Lexi

Look at that picture. It’s worth a thousand words.

That is a picture of Paul. Also known as Pavlo. He’s from Greece. Came here when he was a kid. We all know Paul and if you don’t know Paul, you know someone like Paul, and if you don’t know someone like Paul, then you must be living in Timbuktu with not one Greek in the town, not even the diner owner!

We love Paul. He’s a great guy, the type that would give you the shirt off his back even if it’s his last shirt. Funny, generous, caring; he’s an all-around good guy, the life of the party, and Paul is that guy that makes sure everyone is having a good time and helping out.

You may not know our Paul, but I’m sure you know someone like Paul. Everyone knows a Paul. When someone starts talking about him, you know exactly who they are talking about. He’s that guy. To us, though, he’s simply Paul, although he says his name is Pavlo. Paul or Pavlo, Tv or tV, what’s the difference? (only a few of you “in the know” will get that comparison).

Now, look at that picture, again. It sure is worth a thousand words.

Look at Paul’s demeanor. It screams out confidence. Of course, it does, he’s Greek. We went to school with him, hung out at Greek dances and festivals with him, or just knew him from the neighborhood. Paul’s the guy that could get you stuff… any stuff. He always knew someone and had “friends” he could call. He also knew a lot of stuff, like politics, religion, and the meaning of life, whether he actually knew it, we don’t know, but he sounded like he knew it and that was good enough for us. He was Socrates, Einstein, and Gandhi all wrapped up it one. It was Paul that you cut class with, had your first cigarette, and drank your first tsipouro. If you needed to be bailed out, he was the first one there.

Paul is also that guy that would be everywhere, then suddenly disappear for months, many months. No one knew where he went. Back to Greece, California, Gozo? (Yeah, look that one up on the internet!) Then suddenly there’s a knock at your door…it’s Paul! Tells you all about his trip, but never really tells you. To this day you’re still trying to figure out where he had been for the last six months.

Now once again, look at that picture. I’m telling you, it is truly worth a thousand words.

Look at the cigarette and the way Paul is holding it. Classic Greek. He’s a Greek man and proud of it. Greek just oozes out of him like Seven Star Metaxas as he holds that cigarette. He’s been smoking since he was a kid when his older cousin, named Paul, gave him his first cigarette out back in the horafia. He’s truly a traditional Greek man because he’s not vaping, it’s a real cigarette with real tobacco. Not those mamby-pamby vaps that kill you faster than yiayia’s pandofla back-handed across the back of your head!

Take a look. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Look at the sunglasses. Ray-Ban Aviators. He knows how to wear them and there’s nothing else to comment about that!

Take one final look at that picture. It’s definitely worth a million lexi.

I’m sure you could come up with a million words to describe our man Paul, or someone like Paul. We love him just the same. Now you have seen a picture of our Paul, but I am sure you can picture in your mind your Paul. We need those Pauls and we want those Pauls. Makes life interesting.

By the way, Paul is on one of his hiatuses. Haven’t seen him around for at least six months. Where is he? Don’t know. Maybe the Great Blue Hole in Belize, or the Forest of Knives in Madagascar with its razor-sharp vertical rocks, or out in the Pacific on Cook Island retracing Captain Cook’s travels around the world. Or he could simply be at the Pontian leskie in Upper Darby. Who knows, but one thing is for sure, late one stormy night, we’ll get a knock at the door and it will be Paul and he’ll sit down with us, light his cigarette, take a shot of tsipouro, drink some Greek coffee, and tell us all about where he was… maybe.

Take care Paul, where ever you are!