Growing up in Philadelphia, my grandmother, Betty, was a very obedient, good, Jewish young lady. She always did as she was told, including keeping kosher throughout her childhood. When most of her friends' parents were making ham for dinner, Betty's mom was making veal chops. She had never tasted a pork product or a cheeseburger.
             In her early twenties, Betty met Rubin S., the man she would later marry. As the relationship got serious, Rubin wanted Betty to meet his parents. The Schwartz's invited Betty over for dinner one night. Betty wanted to make a good impression, so she brought a box of candy with her. However, she was so nervous that she hid the candy under her coat and refused to take her coat off the entire meal.
             Rubin's mother brought out a large meat platter that smelled so great to Betty. It reminded her of her mother's veal chops, so she was very excited to dig in. She began to eat it and it was very good, but it didn't taste like veal chops, so she asked what it was. The delicious meal turned out to be pork chops. Apparently, the thought never crossed Betty's mind that the Schwartz's didn't keep kosher. Betty immediately became very nervous because she never had pork before because it wasn't kosher. Although she thought she had committed a terrible sin, she didn't stop eating the pork chops because she was too nervous and thought that would be rude. As soon as the meal was over, Betty left right away. She never even gave them the candy she had brought. She actually wound up just leaving it on her chair. Right when Betty got home, she told her mother that she ate pork. Betty expected her mother to be furious, but she actually thought it was hilarious.
             My family on my dad's side has always had a sense of humor about everything. My great-grandmother's reaction to my grandmother eating the pork reflects my family's value of n...