Ms. Cranky loves a good bodega, those little stores all over the city with either bright red and yellow signs or paler, faded-looking signs. Cranky doesn’t know if the latter signs are bought faded (like, it’s the style) or they become faded. She’d like to think the latter.
Bodegas have all the little odds and ends one needs from newspapers to snacks to an ice cold bottle of water. Where Ms. Cranky taught this spring in East New York, there was a shiny clean bodega that even had a small butcher in the back. They’re usually family-owned and operated. There is often a cat, whether legal or not. Neighbors and family members hang out talking; sometimes they sit at a table in the back and play cards or dominos. A bodega is a cherished New York City institution, so when Ms. Cranky heard that over 100 brand new shiny ‘7-11’s’ were going to open in the city, she felt heartsick.
There’s nothing wrong with a ‘7-11’ (maybe, out on the highway would be nice!). They’re bright and fluorescent-lit and seemingly clean but they’re A CHAIN, a huge chain, and, though you can get very nice staff, they’re not family-run, they’re not intimate, they’re not different one from another and there will be no one playing cards in the back and certainly no cat sitting on the cash register. Latter story below:
Once there was a wonderful Korean bodega-deli in Brooklyn (‘bodega’ was once used for stores run by Spanish people but is now universally used for all small marts, no matter what nationality). In that wonderful friendly shop, the cat sat on top of the cash register and the two twinkly brothers who ran the place often seemed to not want to move her so they could make their transactions. The place was on a once very rough corner where Cranky waited for the bus. It was considered then the most dangerous corner in Brooklyn (now, of course, it’s ‘trendy’). So, Ms. C. was always glad for respite from her bus wait and the brothers sold single roses for one dollar and Ms. Cranky loved to get one to take home.
But, the real story of this place is that when the two brothers decided to return to Korea after 35 years in business here (to care for their older brother), the neighborhood was bereft. Because, besides the cat sitting on the cash register and the lovely single roses, the two had been feeding for all those years many a needy person. They never announced it, no one knew, but when they got ready to leave the area, word got out and there were all these wonderful well-deserved newspaper articles about them.
Maybe Cranky’s wrong, she hopes she is; maybe the ‘7-11’s’ won’t cause hurt to the bodegas, delis, mini marts, she so treasures but when she read that first article about the chain moving in, it was presented as a big threat so she’s worried and wonders if anyone else is?
Quality of life is not about bright and shiny, we all know that.
Thanks for stopping by. Ms. Cranky hopes you have a wonderful weekend and would love to hear your thoughts on the subject of this column. Ms. Cranky, though everyone knows she’s cheap, err, frugal, has always tried to support small stores as much as she can --- because she likes them, because they’re a comfort, because you can buy one onion when you need it and because people smile and wonder how you are and where you’ve been and there’s usually a cat she can call by name and, sometimes, pet.
Ms. Cranky, Friday, July 27, 2012, Brooklyn, NY --- slightly cooler, rough storms yesterday, hope everyone’s okay.
No comments:
Post a Comment