wshepperd, Fri, September 25th, 2009

Samadee sat with the Has Been and the Wannabe, looking out the big front window in World, which had celebrated a soft opening the night before on the Southside of Hanover Square. They watched the fountain and the skateboarders, recalling warm nights when the weather was good at tables outside with burgers from Quigley’s wagon and contented crowds of very different people who just got along.

The three had gone two seasons of warm nights without the tables or the World, and they were told the tables would not be out again until next summer, due to the lateness into the warm time and the cost and process of getting the proper permit. But the view from the proper side of the Square and a decade worth of nostalgia was enough.

Samadee took a copy of City Eagle off the pile on the shelf where it had been available every week during World’s previous incarnation. He read with relief that Ken Jackson had survived a flirtation with the other side, documenting it with the wry irony that he had also survived a dose of the same medicine that felled Michael Jackson. With their attention called to KJ’s last line, “We both took Diprivan. The difference is, I’m around to talk about it,” all three noticed photos of the Senior Editor and his daughter at the Great New York State Fair, falling into silence, each with their own sense of annual late summer nostalgia.

Forgetting the thing you go for
“The photos are cool,” Samadee noted. “But they should have left space for one more paragraph. He didn’t bring the column full circle.”

“Maybe he got lost in the reverie,” the Has Been said knowingly.

“Ultimately,” Samadee intoned, “nostalgia at the Great New York State Fair is the thing which you go for, but which you don’t have to remember, because going becomes such a firmly established ritual.

Which makes the thing such a delightful surprise when you encounter it. Like the greatest lemonade in the world, found every year at Omanii’s in the Pan African Village along with the proprietor’s poetry books. And because there is just so much stuff, there can always be a first time with something, like this year’s sweet potato cheesecake.”

“Or magnetic jewelry for pain relief,” the Wannabe interrupted sarcastically.

Knowing the Wannabe had been looking for a transitional opening for a political screed on the primary results, Samadee quickly hailed the bar tender, announcing his name and assuring her that he had been a regular before the closing and would be one again. Introducing herself as Claire, she reflected that she, too, had been a regular and was now simply on the other side of the bar, making money instead of spending it. Asked about the big screen videos, a former World trademark, Claire explained that the viewings would be classed up a bit, with soccer replacing the Playboy Channel offerings. “There are a lot of European men coming in here,” she observed.

Postulated political presence
“Well, the whiteboys sure ripped off Otis,” the Wannabe almost shouted, trying to command attention. The MDA and Downtown Committee types gathered for a Friday after work at the end of the bar exchanged comments on the expanded and reupholstered banquettes lining the walls of the World.

Claire raised her eyebrows and looked at Samadee. “He’s referring to the Republican primary,” he explained.

“That’s twice in a row,” the Wannabe said, louder since he saw the civic servants would not be distracted from their own conversation. “They try to show how progressive they are for Republicans, establishing him as front runner for mayor four years ago, and actually giving him the designation this time.” He went on to quote from an article the Senior Editor had written for Urban CNY when it was the Constitution 20 years ago on whether Syracuse was ready for a black mayor. City Court Judge Langston McKinney, who had shown himself to be a significant citywide vote getter, had been asked if he saw himself as a logical candidate. He replied that the white folks in power didn’t allow a black mayor until they thought there was nothing left to take out of the city.

“Actually,” Samadee told Claire, “there was only one real issue of contention in either primary. Steve Kimatian proposed a curfew and Otis Jennings opposed it. It’s an uphill battle for a black Republican in a conservative dominated primary to run against a law and order issue.”


Next week: the Democrats