Moishe Plotnik's Laundry‏

A true story...So they say.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...2u2004/1-6.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...2u2004/2-5.jpg

Walking through San Francisco's Chinatown,
a tourist from the Midwest was enjoying the
artistry of all the Chinese restaurants, shops,
signs and banners...

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...2u2004/3-5.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...2u2004/4-5.jpg

When he turned a corner and saw a building
with the sign 'Moishe Plotnik's Laundry.'

'Moishe Plotnik?' he wondered. 'How does
that belong in Chinatown ?'

He walked into the shop and saw a fairly
standard looking drycleaner, although he
could see that the proprietors were clearly
aware of the uniqueness of the store name
as there were baseball hats, T-shirts and
coffee mugs emblazoned with the logo
'Moishe Plotnik's Chinese Laundry..'

The tourist selected a coffee cup as a
conversation piece to take back to his office...

Behind the counter was a smiling old
Chinese gentleman who thanked him for his purchase...

The tourist asked, 'Can you explain how this
place got a name like 'Moishe Plotnik's Laundry?''

The old man answered, 'Ah.. Evleebody ask me dat.
It name of owner.'

Looking around, the tourist asked, 'Is he here now?'

'It me, Me him!' replied the old man...

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...2u2004/5-3.jpg

'Really? You're Chinese. How did you ever get
a Jewish name like Moishe Plotnik?'

'It simple', said the old man...
'Many, many year ago I come to thes country.
I standing in line at ' Documentation Center
of Immiglation.'
Man in flont of me was Jewish man from Poland ..'

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...2u2004/6-3.jpg

'Lady at counter look at him and say to him,
'What your name?'
He say to her, 'Moishe Plotnik.'

Then she look at me and say,
'What your name?'

I say, 'Sam Ting.'

Thats just plain funny.

It's an old joke, not a real story. Around Scandanavians, it's usually the opposite way.

A bunch of old white-haired Swedes were sitting around at a Lutheran picnic one day, when a newcomer came in. He introduced himself, and as others chimed in, one man said,
"Hi, I'm Sam Ting."

"Isn't that a Chinese name?" the visitor asked the tall, blue-eyed man.

"Yah," nodded Sam.

"But you don't look Chinese!" the visitor said. "Are you a Swede, like your friends here?"

"Sure," replied Sam, calmly.

"Well, how'd you end up with a Chinese name?"

"I was goin' t'rough immigration, and the guy in front of me was John Johanson, just like me, so when the lady asked my name, I just said, "Same t'ing."