So a soda jerk is one who serves soda and ice cream.
Of course, I will have to try this line sometime.
What do you do:
Me? I’m a soda jerk.
It’s funny because – well – “jerk” sounds like “clerk.”
Here, Cohen is referring to Jewish Gangster Abe Reles.
Kind of wish I had the background to list this on my CV…
But one can only like so many lives, I suppose.
This side of him, this wild, cowboy side, was usually hidden by an easy, laid-back, just-off-the-boat demeanor. He spoke in a slow, guttural lisp. He had a funny way of walking; going down the street, he looked like a man trying to kick off his shoes. Whenever booked for a crime, he listed his occupation as soda jerk.
-Rich Cohen, Tough Jews