I didn't lose anybody on September 11. Not exactly.
But see, I had this bar.
Not just a bar. They also sold food – burgers, chicken wings and, the highlight, about the best crawfish anyplace in Broward County. Also, raw oysters. You might remember the place. It was on Young Circle in downtown Hollywood, and I'd head there with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wolfblade and orianna33 and coldecho and arcanazero and evilstoryteller and others. D worked at that coffee place near it on the circle that I'm still convinced was a pit of evil. You could hang out in the back for hours, or sit outside on Young Circle if you wanted. It wasn't our only or even our major hangout, but we went there often enough that the owner, Tony, got to know us. I went to some birthday gatherings there. I even took some students there to celebrate after they'd passed their tests.
The bar was called Shuckum's.
***********
On September 12, 2001, we noticed that a building just off of U.S. 1, just a couple blocks south of Young Circle, had been cordoned off. This was a little over a mile from where I lived; less than a half mile from wherewolfblade and orianna33 lived; within two miles of julbkwrm. arcanazero and animamea lived.
That night I calledwolfblade in horror. "Shuckums is on the news."
************
The stories vary. I doubt we'll ever know what actually happened, but, the story I heard from news media and the staff was, more or less, that two or three Middle Eastern looking men came in and started running up one hell of a bar tab. Tony was ok with this, to a point, if he knew you, but he didn't know these guys. So he sent one of the waitresses over to ask if they were going to settle their bill. This went very badly and resulted in either an outright bar fight (one version) or hostile words (another version) and Tony coming over to calm things down and getting told that of course the guy could pay the bill, he was a goddamn airline pilot.
This was Mohammed Atta.
(Wikipedia currently casts doubt on this identification, saying that the staff saw three of the other hijackers, not Atta, but the story was very widely reported in the national and international media, and in many ways, it doesn't matter if it was true, or who was actually there; everyone knew that Shuckums was where the 9-11 terrorists went for a last drink Sunday night.)
*************
wolfblade and I went in that Friday. I think everyone was still shellshocked, but one thing was noticeable: we were pretty much the only ones in what had been a crowded bar. Some of the staff had already quit.
That weekend, we heard that D who worked at the above mentioned coffee bar had been questioned by the FBI. (She mentioned this on Facebook this morning.)
************
We went back in November.
Most of the menu items were no longer on the menu. Tony came over to talk to us. He looked exhausted, miserable, near tears. He couldn't afford to order anything; without anything in stock, he couldn't get customers in. He had no idea what to do. "Nobody will come here," he said. "They won't – it's like they think it's unlucky, and now they're avoiding the other one too."
He swallowed.
"My bar," he said.
We were the only two customers there. And neither one of us could eat much.
*************
It closed down about a month later.
A few people said that a business that couldn't handle a three month loss of cash flow didn't deserve to stay in business. Others said that Shuckum's should have tried to play on the notoriety, the whole murderers have been here. I don't know. I think that sort of notoriety can work with some sorts of murderers, depending upon who and most definitely when.
Not this one.
The last time I was in Young Circle I went to the bar/grill that took its place a year or so later. It's not a bad place. But somehow, none of us ended up hanging out there.
**************
So no, I'm not rejoicing that bin Laden is dead. I'm not rejoicing that anyone is dead. I am hoping against all hope that maybe, just maybe, some people might decide to plant trees and flowers instead of bombs today, while knowing full well that some people might well take this as an incentive for revenge. At the same time, I'm not sorry. I wasn't sorry when Timothy McVeigh died either.
But I am remembering that bar. And planning on doing a little flower planting this afternoon, if my feet stop swelling. (Right now I am not going anywhere for the next several hours.)
But see, I had this bar.
Not just a bar. They also sold food – burgers, chicken wings and, the highlight, about the best crawfish anyplace in Broward County. Also, raw oysters. You might remember the place. It was on Young Circle in downtown Hollywood, and I'd head there with
wolfblade and orianna33 and coldecho and arcanazero and evilstoryteller and others. D worked at that coffee place near it on the circle that I'm still convinced was a pit of evil. You could hang out in the back for hours, or sit outside on Young Circle if you wanted. It wasn't our only or even our major hangout, but we went there often enough that the owner, Tony, got to know us. I went to some birthday gatherings there. I even took some students there to celebrate after they'd passed their tests.The bar was called Shuckum's.
***********
On September 12, 2001, we noticed that a building just off of U.S. 1, just a couple blocks south of Young Circle, had been cordoned off. This was a little over a mile from where I lived; less than a half mile from where
wolfblade and orianna33 lived; within two miles of julbkwrm. arcanazero and animamea lived.That night I called
wolfblade in horror. "Shuckums is on the news."************
The stories vary. I doubt we'll ever know what actually happened, but, the story I heard from news media and the staff was, more or less, that two or three Middle Eastern looking men came in and started running up one hell of a bar tab. Tony was ok with this, to a point, if he knew you, but he didn't know these guys. So he sent one of the waitresses over to ask if they were going to settle their bill. This went very badly and resulted in either an outright bar fight (one version) or hostile words (another version) and Tony coming over to calm things down and getting told that of course the guy could pay the bill, he was a goddamn airline pilot.
This was Mohammed Atta.
(Wikipedia currently casts doubt on this identification, saying that the staff saw three of the other hijackers, not Atta, but the story was very widely reported in the national and international media, and in many ways, it doesn't matter if it was true, or who was actually there; everyone knew that Shuckums was where the 9-11 terrorists went for a last drink Sunday night.)
*************
wolfblade and I went in that Friday. I think everyone was still shellshocked, but one thing was noticeable: we were pretty much the only ones in what had been a crowded bar. Some of the staff had already quit.That weekend, we heard that D who worked at the above mentioned coffee bar had been questioned by the FBI. (She mentioned this on Facebook this morning.)
************
We went back in November.
Most of the menu items were no longer on the menu. Tony came over to talk to us. He looked exhausted, miserable, near tears. He couldn't afford to order anything; without anything in stock, he couldn't get customers in. He had no idea what to do. "Nobody will come here," he said. "They won't – it's like they think it's unlucky, and now they're avoiding the other one too."
He swallowed.
"My bar," he said.
We were the only two customers there. And neither one of us could eat much.
*************
It closed down about a month later.
A few people said that a business that couldn't handle a three month loss of cash flow didn't deserve to stay in business. Others said that Shuckum's should have tried to play on the notoriety, the whole murderers have been here. I don't know. I think that sort of notoriety can work with some sorts of murderers, depending upon who and most definitely when.
Not this one.
The last time I was in Young Circle I went to the bar/grill that took its place a year or so later. It's not a bad place. But somehow, none of us ended up hanging out there.
**************
So no, I'm not rejoicing that bin Laden is dead. I'm not rejoicing that anyone is dead. I am hoping against all hope that maybe, just maybe, some people might decide to plant trees and flowers instead of bombs today, while knowing full well that some people might well take this as an incentive for revenge. At the same time, I'm not sorry. I wasn't sorry when Timothy McVeigh died either.
But I am remembering that bar. And planning on doing a little flower planting this afternoon, if my feet stop swelling. (Right now I am not going anywhere for the next several hours.)