Before I picked up the Blue Suit at the corner of Elm and Abbott Tuesday before noon I was thinking – what happened to the snow storm that had been predicted?
I wondered, what has happened to common sense when it comes to calling off school?
Schools in nearly every city and town in Greater Boston called off classes Tuesday in what can only be described as an homage to bad weather reporting.
Hey, what do I know?
Hey. What the hell. Everyone got a day off during a winter sea- son when there have been virtually no snow days.
Is that bad? No it isn’t.
Does it make sense to call off schools en masse when there is no storm to speak of? Of course not.
But this is woke, careful, wasteful, hysterical America reacting to a storm that was coming but failed to materialize.
Does any of this matter? No it doesn’t.
If everyone who didn’t have to report to work didn’t get paid for their day off, that would matter, as it should matter.
“This is a world where definitions are always in flux,” a good friend of the Blue Suit said to me.
“There’s a great fluidity in the meaning which people attach to words and concepts in our modern culture. The concept of a storm may very well have changed to accommodate the light wind we experienced this morning. The concept of the storm may very well have grown to encapsulate the hype itself so the hype becomes part of the storm and as a result, we all needed a day off after readying ourselves.”
I wondered to myself, maybe the storm wasn’t intended to be just snowfall. Maybe the storm was existential, like a metaphor for our lives which we can’t really make sense out of.
These private thoughts ended when I picked up the Blue Suit. He was standing at the corner of Elm and Abbott streets. I have to admit, the Blue Suit is recognizable. After all, that blue suit is about the best known piece of clothing worn by an Everett resident, ever.
He got into the car.
We traded glances at one another.
“How you doin today?” I asked the Blue Suit.
“Ready to roll, Josh,” he said to me.
We took off down Elm Street.
“Did you watch the city council meeting Monday night?” the Blue Suit asked me.
“Is the Pope Catholic?” I replied.
“What did you think about Dennis Costa’s performance?” the Blue Suit wondered.
I thought for a moment.
“Costa was a bit edgy Monday night,” I answered. “He was a bit contentious. He tended to have his say in a way that he hasn’t had his say in the public forum in the past,” I added.
“What did you think?” I asked the Blue Suit.
The Blue Suit cleared his throat. He straightened his lapels and tugged at his belt.
“He seemed to me to be like a guy who tried wearing a new suit a new suit to the meeting to generate a response. He was not trying to hide behind his general sensitivity to what everyone says at the council meeting. He was assertive, even argumentative and I thought he made good points.”
I agreed with the Blue Suit.
“You are right on all counts,” I said to the Blue Suit.
The Blue Suit continued.
“He was tough, without being insulting. He was stern without being overbearing. He made his points and moved quickly from point to point scoring along the way,” the Blue Suit said.
“What do you mean by “scoring?” I asked.
“Well, Josh, just look at who was there and who he was jousting with and what he and others jousted about. This was not just another city council meeting for Costa. He graduated Monday night from the novice he likes to call attention to, to a wannabe warrior capable of surviving a fight,” the Blue Suit added.
“You know what Costa’s problem is?” I asked the Blue Suit.
“Of course I do,” he replied. “Well.”
The Blue Suit finished off a large, thick Hershey bar – the kind that would last me two weeks – he had been biting into.
He went into a soliloquy about Costa. Let’s face it, the Blue Suit knows Everett politics inside and out. There is no one living or dead as good at determining what’s up at city as he.
I lectured the Blue Suit.
“OK. Costa is smart. He is articulate. He showed Monday he is capable of making waves with the leadership who were present at the meeting. None of this is a problem. The problem is that Costa is not from Everett. He’s not a basic Everett type which is not an advantage in the Everett political world when it comes to longevity. He doesn’t speak like he’s from Everett. He doesn’t act like he’s from Everett. I repeat, he’s not from here. There are others breathing down his neck ready to make a comeback. He can probably feel the heat. I think his performance Monday night was a reaction to a growing understanding he has about his place in the greater scheme of the Everett political world,” I told the Blue Suit.
“I think you’re right, Josh,” he said to me.
“That being said, what do you think Costa is tossing around in that active mind of his? What is his thinking about his political future? Where does he see his rising or falling?”
“I have no idea,” the Blue Suit replied. “I don’t speak with him. I don’t think he knows who I am and frankly, that’s a problem in itself, isn’t it, Josh?”
“If you say so…bro,” I replied.
At this point in our conversation the Blue Suit demanded that I stop the car. He rushed out of the car and into DiBlasi’s where he ordered three large Italian subs with everything and hot peppers.
The rest is all about digestive history!