The phone regularly rang with people looking for the jail.

When I was a kid, our telephone number was 656-3060; the jail’s was different by just one digit. Weekends — and during the full moon — the phone regularly rang with people looking for the lockup. I’d tell ’em the correct number, but some dazed drunks just kept calling. If my parents weren’t around, I’d goof with the people on the line. One woman called like six or seven times asking “Has bail been set yet for Timothy McGillicuddy?” So I says, “Wait,” and then I rustled the pages of the phone book to make it sound like I’m looking through a file or something. Then I announced in as gruff a voice as I could manage at age 12, “He got the chair.” At the other end there was a scream. I hung up. She didn’t call back.

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About Anthony Olszewski

Anthony Olszewski has written on a wide variety of topics: cage birds, tropical fish, popular culture, the poetry of Amiri Baraka and a chapter on genetics for a veterinary text book, as a small sample. He worked as an editor at a magazine produced by TFH, the world's largest publisher of pet books. Anthony Olszewski is the author of a booklet on Hudson County history, Hudson County Facts, and a book of short stories, Second Thief, Best Thief, that are sold on Amazon. Anthony Olszewski established PETCRAFT.com in 1996. A pioneer on the Web, the Site continues to provide unique information on a range of companion animals, focusing on birds and fish. As a community service, he operates Jersey City Free Books. Anthony Olszewski was born in Jersey City, NJ (Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital, 1956) and is a member of Mensa.
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