Incident on Broadway
Last Friday—March,
bright sun, cold wind—
I was on Broadway, hobbling,
headed for the next block.
At 109th, at the light,
two men just ahead, waiting:
one speaking,
one being spoken at.
The speaker—young, loud,
a dog on a loose leash,
muscular, steady—
kept returning to it:
Why am I an anti-Semite
just because I’m against Israel
killing people?
Again:
Why am I…
The other man—
seventies,
beard, dark coat,
a yarmulke—
said nothing.
Not a conversation.
I said:
Why are you shouting in the street?
He turned.
I’m shouting because I’m doing something, lady.
What are you doing?
I kept walking.
He followed, still shouting.
The pet shop—
a few steps—
I went in.
Inside: heat, shelves,
rubber toys in bins,
chews, cat toys,
a cat in the window.
Oh, you’re going into a pet store
and you don’t even have a pet—
I’m the one with the pet, lady—
his voice carrying,
then thinning.
From the window:
no sign of the old man.
I bought a small rubber ball—
firm, exact—
for the calf muscle
that will not loosen.
I’m proud of you – you are a good person trying to make a difference.
Sometimes we can’t help ourselves from reacting. May not be our wisest move, but hey.
My daddy used to tell me the people in Texas who predicted the weather were either fools or newcomers and then would add, come to think of it. That’s the only kind of people who live in Texas.
I feel like that’s the only kind of people who live anywhere in this country anymore.
P.S. Thanks for the “Cat” postcard! Came just in time for Easter! T and I loved it!
I love my cat with an I. !!!
Stay safe.
Nothing much to proud of really. It’s usually best not to engage with the deranged and enraged but sometimes you have to do something to at least send a signal. Sometimes a little distraction is all it takes.
You dad was right about the people in Texas. And possibly true about people everywhere!
Now you are a cat person…. Cheers!
A lovely poem. I applaud your brave intervention in the street. We need to call impolite behaviour out – it would help if some leaders would do that too.
It’s usually neither advisable nor productive to engage with shouters in the street. This was a spur-of-the-moment exception. The behavior wasn’t merely impolite. It was mindless self-righteous guilt-by-association abuse fueled no doubt by the fact that he was at least one sandwich short of a picnic and by popular political perversions.
Good for you, Josie. And I love the poem.
“Much madness is divinest sense” – but not in this case.
Shouting never changed anyone’s mind. Nor will it end any wars. (K)
As Hillary Clinton – quoting Max Weber – said in 1996 politics is “a strong and slow boring of hard boards”. Genuine change requires persistent effort rather than quick fixes and the waving of cardboard signs and shouting.
That’s just the beginning of what i think (but do not know) was happening in this incident.
I love this poem.
scary all right! And yes, blaming Israel for our going into the war is totally antisemitic. We went into the war because we have a stupid show-off president who has no feelings or respect for the lives of others.
It didn’t feel that scary. It wasn’t. (Although you never know what you are dealing with with random aggressive strangers acting out in public.)
But something had to be said. Some signal needed to be given. Some gesture at least. I would feel bad if I had not done at least that.
I took my opportunity. I still feel bad. People have been so misled.