admin @ Tue, 2005-10-25 05:46
OTTUMWA - Erika Linsley, 65, of rural Cedar said she doesn't know a stranger.
The patrons of Econofoods, 522 N. Hancock St., Ottumwa (on the city's south side), will back her up on that claim. Since the day she started her job 14 years ago, Erika has greeted each customer with a smile, maybe a joke, or a kind word.
And, whatever the conservation may have been, she remembers what was said and frequently asks follow-up questions. "I know more people in Ottumwa than in my own area," Erika added.
Try asking her why she likes people so much. I tried the question three different ways.
"I'm just me," she said. "I love all the people. Color or age doesn't matter. There are wonderful people here."
Even people who don't meet with everyone's approval can get a friendly nod from Erika. She recalled a certain person some folks consider odd, even peculiar. Although Erika wouldn't say the person's name, she did say the supposedly "peculiar" person helped an elderly woman who dropped her groceries.
"[That person] was the only one who helped the lady and others had the chance. That person is No. 1 in my book," she said.
Even at age 5, Erika was helping strangers. One day in 1945, a huge tank pulled up in front of her parents' place on the outskirts of Nuremberg, Germany.
"And the tallest, blackest man I had ever seen got out of that tank," she said.
The German word is very similar and Erika knew what he wanted. She pointed to the facility. Before the soldier left, he gave her a handful of candies.
"My mother said I hid under the steps and ate those candies - they were jelly beans - and didn't share with my four older sisters," she said. "We didn't have candy. My mother would take a little syrup and heat it until it hardened. That was our candy."
Erika said she was "born into poor times" and "you learn from that."
"We had nothing to eat. How we struggled," she added.
After she finished eighth grade, she attended trade school for three years and worked in factories.
But, she was working at an officers' club when she met Larry Linsley, a U.S. Army officer. One evening she missed her ride to the trolley turnaround. She went back to the club, saw Larry sitting there.
"Larry and I had seen each other around so I said, 'Hey, Linsley, will you give me a ride to the turnaround?'," she said.
He agreed. That was the beginning of a long, loving relationship. Erika was 23 when she traveled to the United States as Larry's bride in August 1963.
Was it hard to leave her homeland? "Very hard. When we landed in New York, I thought it was so dirty," Erika said.
After their Volkswagen arrived, the Linsleys drove to Larry's farm, his family's homestead, three miles north of Cedar. They arrived in late September.
"This country is so big. I thought Larry was taking me to the end of the world," she said. "I was a big-city girl. There were at least 60,000 people in Nuremberg. And, all of Germany is about the size of the state of Oregon."
Iowa's brown fields and countryside didn't impress Erika much at first, either. But, she fell in love with the U.S. and earned her citizenship in 1971. At that time, she still had a sister behind the Iron Curtain.
"I didn't want to go see her with a West German passport," she said.
If she had, the Communist authorities in East Germany may have detained her. "Many people don't realize how much freedom we have in the United States," she added.
Erika enjoys her work. For many years, she has been a cashier on Econo's front line. Now she's more often found in the pharmacy. She has called off only twice in 14 years and once was because of snowfall.
And, Erika looks forward to seeing people. The rest of us are glad she does.
"I can talk to anyone, that's just the way I am," she said. "What you see is what you get. I don't put on for no one. I'm not out to impress anyone."
But, you do impress people, Erika. I'm willing to bet any customer who has ever met you will always recall the smile, the laugh, and the kind words.
This is cache, read story here