October 14, 2016

Pop-Pop's retirement from Frankford Arsenal, 1964

Pop-Pop (Ben Polsky) far left. Age 58.

Dad writes: "My father retired on disability from the Frankford Arsenal in 1964 when he was 58. He ran a barrel tumbling machine for deburring machined parts. It was hard physical labor. His disability was a diagnosis of  severe angina, which several years later was proven wrong. He was taking nitro-glycerin like candy every time he had a chest pain. Several years after he retired, a cardiologist at Penn took him off all meds. I'll never forget what the doctor told him.

He said: 'Mr. Polsky, you're wasting my time. You have the heart of an 18 year old. You're over medicated. Throw away all your heart meds. The next time you have a chest pain, take a walk around the block instead of popping pills.'

We tossed his meds and got him a job in a machine shop where I worked. He worked there for about 10 years. When he was unable to do shop work any longer, he worked part time for a local drug store. He never had an easy job in his whole life."

1 comment:

  1. I remember Pop-Pop riding his bike everywhere. I remember he had a bad fall (or 2 or 3?). Up to what point did they have a car and what type/color was the car? I'm trying to remember if I ever saw one in their driveway? We always picked them up to go to eat. When and why was the reason he no longer drove - budget? health? Did Bubbie ever learn to drive?

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