In the early years there was much prejudice against Greeks and other Southern European peoples. I'd like to relate an incident that took place while we were in the apartment house at 1140 Pine Street. I was living in a three-room apartment with Frank and Ruth Lamont. They slept in the bedroom and I slept on the couch. One night, about 1:00 o'clock in the morning, someone knocked on our door. I got up, and there was a man standing in the doorway. I asked the man what he wanted. He said he was trying to locate his wife. I tried to explain to him that this was no time to ring people's doorbell, that I didn't know who his wife was or where she was. He turned to go, but instead of leaving, he went to ring the doorbell on the other side of the hall. I stopped him and asked him, please do not disturb people at this hour. He was irritated and came over and asked me "Who are you?" I told him that I was the manager of the apartment, and that I did not want him to disturb the tenants. While watching his actions I could see that he had become mad, He swung at me. Fortunately I ducked and he missed. He was a lot bigger than me so I grabbed a garbage can and threw it at him. He then ran out of the building, and called me a "God-dammed Greek." This expression was commonly use at the time and it irritated me more than anything else. To me it was the ultimate insult, something I could not understand or tolerate. It hurt me deeply. To call me, or anybody, a name as an individual, that I could understand. But to call my race names, the race of which I was so proud and which had given so much to the world was something that I could not take. It made me so mad and furious and upset that if I'd been in a financially liquid position and able to dispose of what little I had I would have grabbed it and gone back to Greece. Fortunately, I could not and I didn't do it. I got over it. Thank God I did. Had I gone back there who knows whether I'd still be alive today. I would have regretted it tremendously.

Shortly after that, around 1923, we sold the apartment lease for a profit. I also sold the store at California and Leavenworth and got a good price for it. I had accumulated a few thousand dollars and looked around for a new location that would give me more income. Apartment house buildings were being erected then because there was a tremendous scarcity of housing. A seven story apartment was being built on the northeast corner of Sutter and Leavenworth with a store downstairs. I thought it was a good chance for me to lease the building, let Martha operate the apartment and for me to run the store.

Everything was arranged and the lease was signed, all based on the blueprints since the building was not completed. I took a little vacation for the first time ever, and when I returned the building was completed. There were 71 apartments and the store. All went well. Between the store and the apartments I made a much better living than I had ever done before.