Saturday, April 01, 2006

Dispatches From Small-Town Urban USA

The Josephson family belongs to the Park Slope Food Co-Op.

It's the oldest food co-op in the country. Only members can shop there, and to be a member, you have to work one shift a month - stocking shelves, mopping floors, packaging cheese, or something of that ilk. My shift is maintenance. Sarah used to put loose tea and spices in baggies, but now she answers phones in the office.

This morning, I dressed Asher in the required Brookyn baby attire (Beastie Boys t-shirt, jeans and a hoodie) and we went to the food co-op to pick up bananas (his new-old fave cuisine). While we were at the checkout, one of the folks working the register cranked up an old Parliament record, got on the intercom and announced, "Today may be April first, but there are no fools in this co-op. Right here, right now, it is April FUNK day!"

Asher, sitting in the front of the cart, stuck a finger in the air and began to bounce in time to the beat. A customer noticed, and called out, laughing, "Hey, that baby's dancing!" Everyone else looked over, saw him and cheered in unison. Musta been 50 people hollering for Asher. He was, of course, oblivious to the attention, and focused solely on the tunes.

Sarah met us afterwards, and we went up to 7th Avenue to take in the little league baseball parade. No matter where you live, the team names are cut from the same cloth - local business establishments who sponsor them. We watched as J&R Television Repair strutted by, punching their mitts. Oscar's Pizza and Warren Lewis Realtors followed in a less orderly fashion; three of their team members were getting into a scuffle over what looked like a giant baseball balloon.

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