“I think I’ve been blocked from the mayor’s Facebook account. Can you imagine him taking that away from me?”
– Josh Resnek speaking with the mayor’s Blue Suit Tuesday
By JOSH RESNEK with THE BLUE SUIT
“Did he really do that to you, Josh. You know it takes a lot of guts to block someone from coming on to your Facebook site,” the Blue said. He couldn’t stop laughing at his own joke.
“Yeah. It’s a bit like landing at Normandy Beach on D-Day. Takes real guts,” I added.
“Why would the mayor do something like that?” I asked the Blue Suit.
“Maybe he doesn’t like you looking at his Facebook site. Did you ever think about that, Josh” the Blue Suit suggested. “He didn’t do it,” I said. “I suspect he doesn’t know how to block anyone from a Facebook site. You want to know, I don’t know how to do it either. Don’t forget, I’ve got about 3,000 friends on my Leader Herald Facebook site. We’ve never blocked anyone. Friends and foes alike are welcome on the Leader Herald Facebook site. You have something to say, you can write it on the Leader Herald site. You like Carlo, you can have your say. You don’t like Carlo, you can have your say. You support Carlo, go ahead, write your heart out. And on and on.”
“If Carlo didn’t block me, then who did?” I asked the Blue Suit.
“Probably his chief of staff or his media person did it. They are pretty good at strategizing that way.”
“I understand,” I answered. “But how do you think I feel not being able to access the mayor’s Facebook site? What a thing to do to a person. It just isn’t fair and it isn’t right. I used to go to his site every day to find all those valuable golden nuggets of information about all the good Carlo is doing for the people of the city.”
The Blue Suit yawned. He squashed nearly an entire piece of pizza in his mouth with a push of his fingers. What followed next is almost indescribable – the Blue Suit chewing that slice of pizza and devouring it the way a garbage disposal reduces whole food to bits and pieces before sloshing down the drain into oblivion.
“Gee whiz,” I complained to the Blue Suit. “Do you have to be such a glutton? Can’t you eat like a normal person?”
We got the pizza at the Square Deli in Everett Square. Its great pizza. Real hearty, cheezy, rich with sauce and set upon a pie crust that is neither too thick nor too skinny.
Eating a whole piece of Square Deli pizza in one bite is an astonishing act of piggery, but then, that’s the Blue Suit for you.
We did our usual ride around the city in the sunlight on what was the coldest day in three years. I believe it was about 3 degrees in the early afternoon.
We tend to listen to 98.5 sports talk radio as we’re cruising. It’s the best sports talk in Boston bar none.
We talked about the Patriots. We discussed Tom Brady – which we do again and again and we had a lively discourse about Antonio Brown, formerly of the Buccaneers.
“He was at a strip club Monday,” the Blue Suit told me. I knew that because I saw his picture on TMZ.com that was taken inside the strip club.
Brown appears to me like a guy who wants to be taking his clothes off – and he’s always wearing dark sunglasses. Some NFL players fight to win. I think Brown is fighting to lose. I’ve heard some sports fans say they believe Brown has brain damage from being hit in the head too many times during a long career. He can’t help himself, they say. I bet that’s true.
Back to being blocked from the mayor’s Facebook site.
“Is that called a takeaway, Carlo blocking me from his Facebook site?” I asked the Blue Suit.
“Yes. Of course. You’re lucky Carlo wasn’t charging you a fee to go onto to the site.”
“Yeah. I guess I should be happy I got to go onto Carlo’s site without having to pay. He does tend to like charging for nothing.”
“What are you going to miss now that you’re blocked,” the Blue Suit asked.
“I’m going to miss the mayor’s media messaging – you know – all those photographs of the city hall flag raisings he holds for all his friends – for gays, LGBTQ, Haitians, Brazilians, Black Like Me folks and the rest. He is after all the very essence of the ecumenical man – loving everyone, always inclusive, not seeing by color or country of origin.”
The Blue Suit looked at me and raised his eyebrows.
“Are you describing the man I work for and live with, Josh?” “Of course,” I said.
“The mayor is my man for all seasons. He loves all people and as he said in his inaugural speech, he is humbled always by the people of Everett and that he owes everything he has become and he is today, to those who love him, whom he loves. What could be better than that?” I asked.
Again, the Blue Suit looked at me like I had two heads.
“That just doesn’t sound like Carlo, the Carlo I know, the Carlo I have to live with, the Carlo who runs this city as though he owns it.”
“Not to worry, Carlo will one day be judged as all of us are judged. He will leave a legacy as all of us leave a legacy. Of course, that time won’t come until Carlo is gone and I am gone – and that could be a long time.”
“Yes, Josh. That’s what I’m afraid of, a long drawn out affair that presently has no end in sight. I don’t know how much longer I can go on with all the drama. It makes me weary. I think it makes Carlo weary. But hey, what else is the mayor’s Blue Suit to do?”
“Roger that,” I answered.
“Roger that,” I repeated.