At Union, at Desta, at CEDA and with the Liberals
Everyone in the barbershop was talking about the one-year anniversary of the election of the Liberal government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It was a landslide victory.
It was high fives all around, and everyone shouting: “It’s Miller Time.” They were talking about Marc Miller, the MP for southwest Montreal.
Professor said, “Unlike the previous government, when you call MP Miller’s office, his political attaché, Lisa Montgomery, will answer the phone and listen to your complaint, problem, whatever….”
There was an “Amen!”
Deacon walked into the barbershop and immediately put up his hand, and asked for quiet, then said, “Here’s some breaking news. There’s an expression: ‘you get what you wish for’. The 411 is there’s something going on down at Union United Church. I don’t know what it is exactly, but there’s something going on. Stay tuned.”
“Here’s something else. CEDA down on Workman St. in Little Burgundy-St. Henri has a new president. I don’t know who it is but there’s a new president.”
“What’s the name?” Everybody asked. “Is it a he or she?”
“I don’t know. All I heard is that there’s a new president. Someone mentioned a name, but…”
“We want a name. Give us a name, everyone shouted.”
“Just stay tuned,” Deacon answered.
To Tell You The Truth was telling some regulars at the Ways and Means Committee that he was at Brossard Bagels and was telling some people waiting in line that if George Grant were political he would agree that Condoleezza Rice would be a better candidate than Donald Trump. And then the next election they would run Michelle Obama because Trump has too much baggage–spiritually, mentally and socially.
Everyone looked puzzled… dismissing To Tell You The Truth with hand gestures.
Dropout jumped in, “There are all kinds of religions, over 200 of them, and everybody believes there is the right one. After 911, religion took on a whole new meaning. Now if they could somehow take the politics out of religion that might solve a lot of problems. The number one selling book in the Western world says, ‘Love thy neighbour,’ but it also says, ‘love your enemy.’ That’s very confusing to me.”
People mix politics with religion and religion with politics, and we’re all human beings, all inter-related. When the L.A. police were beating Rodney King on his head for a traffic violation, he asked the question: “Can we all live together. Can we all just get along?”
Wonder if anyone heard Rodney.
While getting his haircut, Dr. Quackenbush said: “Someone was renovating his house and a contractor came to him with a quote. He said, “I could buy you a new toilet at Reno Depot for $129 or $1300. So I called the manager at Reno and asked him who is going to buy a toilet. He said, “You’d be surprised.”
The Genius raised his and said, “Over the years, Union United Church missed many opportunities—financially and otherwise—to move forward. Remember, this is the church that Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu visited many years ago, and world famous pianist Oscar Peterson and former superior court judge Juanita Westmoreland Traoré came out of. And this is also where the parents waited for the bus to arrive after hearing news on the radio of the drowning of 12 kids who were at a NCC day camp back in the 1950s. There are no visible reminders of them, or the important dignitaries who visited Union United in the church. It’s too bad.
Crystal was telling Clear that he was walking down St. Catherine St. and had to do a double take when he got to St. James United Church. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. There are three entrances to enter the church; then there’s a fourth one to access a nightclub called Le Balcon. “They’re not thinking about the minister of that church; they’re thinking about how to make money for the church.”
Dr. Quackenbush said, “Black Lives matter, white lives matter, all lives matter.”
There was a resounding “hmmm” from the Ways and Means.
Schoolboy said, “I was in the library reading a book about Steve Jobs. It’s about business, about dominance and power Steve Jobs-style, unlike Donald Trump’s kind of dominance and power.”
“So what’s the difference?” someone asked.
Annabelle, who is a single baby mother with two kids, said she’s buying a Michelle Obama doll for one of her kids whose eyes lit up when she saw one of them. She can’t identify with a white doll.
“I know there’s something wrong with that guy, Donald Trump, when he says Barack Obama is the worst president in the history of the United States. Which means he doesn’t know his history, the history of the United States and the presidents. And he keeps saying, nobody has more respect for women than he does.”
The Ways and Means Committee shouted, “He’s not presidential material.”
Dropout said, “Let me change the subject. Here’s a language problem. I’ll give you an example. A stick-up man went into a Chinese restaurant and said, ‘This is a stickup.’”
And the waiter asked, “Is that to go?”
Certain things I understand, and certain others I don’t. You go into a fast food restaurant and ask for 4 hamburgers, soft drinks, four apple pies and fou0r fries, and the cashier says, “Is that for here or for takeout?”
So you say want to make some money? Then get a homebuilder to build apartments with no children. It’s like the couple that was married for years and never ate out. Her birthday was coming up and she said, “honey, we’ve been married for all these years and you’ve taken me everywhere, so take me to somewhere you’ve never taken me before. So he took her to the kitchen.
“There was an ‘Amen’ in barbershop.”
People are still talking about that 25th anniversary CommunityCONTACT gala. Because a second gala might be coming up, it has to be better than the first. So a lot of different names are been thrown around in conversations.
Professor said, “Don’t worry about that, at CONTACT they’re very organized and structured. Worry about your own organization, whichever one you’re involved with.”
“Amen!”
The Doctor said, “Patti Labelle’s sweet potato pies are very popular in the USA. They are the best. But here in Montreal we have people who make coconut bread who can make pies as good or better than Patti Labelle. All she has is a name.”
Ole Timer put up his hand and said listen, “They stole our music, our clothing styles, our culture, and now they’re talking about Air B&B.”
Some regulars who were visiting the V Lounge were musing that it was a throwback to rooming houses, when Blacks visiting Montreal couldn’t stay in hotels, so they had to stay in somebody’s home (if they had a spare room). Names like Sammy Davis, Jr., Paul Robeson, Nipsey Russell (MC for Elvis Presley), had to stay in rooming houses. Not even the great Jackie Robinson could stay in a Montreal hotel.
The Genius said, “Almost since the first day of the Obama administration, people like Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh and others said they’ve been betrayed by the Obama administration. All along it was the Congress blocking the positive initiatives of the administration, no matter what the president did. Nevertheless, his becoming the president of the USA was the realization of the American dream; Michelle Obama was a realization of the dream. Back in the day Barack Obama were called Uppity N…”
Genius pulled out a piece of paper, and began to read. Listen to this. According to a Letter to the editor in the Nov. 7, 1991 New York Post, “The ‘uppity nigger’ is no longer hung from the nearest tree. In modern times the black upstart is lynched by the media or the power structure when he attempts to utilize the mechanisms of the American way…”
Money said he was at the V Lounge in LaSalle, and “sampled their chicken, peas and rice… It’s the best I ever had anywhere in this city. And I have sampled chicken all over the city. They should be selling V Lounge chicken in supermarkets.”
“Tell me something,” someone said, “What does that woman Kim Kardashian do for a living… $100 million? Please have the answer for me the next time we meet.”
