Josh Resnek – Everett Leader Herald

— Eye on Everett —

“Carlo wants everyone to think he’s turned into a powder puff.”
– The mayor’s Blue Suit to Josh Resnek

By JOSH RESNEK

I picked up the Blue Suit a few blocks away from the mayor’s mansion on Abbott Avenue. It was Tuesday afternoon on a partly cloudy early summer day.

The Blue Suit waved for me to pull over. He was standing on the sidewalk on Elm Street. I came to a stop in front of him. He opened the passenger side door and sat down. He slammed shut the door.

“Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s get out of here. I don’t want Carlo to see me with you. He is so uptight and paranoid. I can’t stand it.”

I pressed down on the accelerator. We darted forward. We took off on our weekly jaunt around the city.

The Blue Suit lit a Marlboro.

“You want one?” he asked me.

“You know I don’t smoke,” I answered. “You shouldn’t be smoking either. Bad for your health.”

“Open the window, please,” I demanded. “I hate the cigarette smoke.”

“Get a life, Josh. I’m just smoking a cigarette.”

He opened the window. We passed the police station. I turned right onto Ferry Street.

“Funny thing. I was just thinking. You know how you like to call the mayor’s house the mansion…well, I’ve got a story about the builder of the mansion. I still feel sorry for that guy. I think he was from East Boston. The mayor stiffed him.”

D’Parma’s Clams quite a treat on a summer day

By JOSH RESNEK

I keep my boat in Winthrop at the Atlantis Marina. So I naturally eat at places in Winthrop when boating. Truth be known, my boat needs a new engine.

That’s about $6,000 bucks and it isn’t going to be replaced this year.

There is a second engine – the boat has twin Chrysler 440 inboard engines. It’s a 40-year-old 35’ cabin cruiser, with a galley and toilet and shower – a real beauty but it will not be taken out this year.

With only one engine, the boat would make circles if I took it out!

After cleaning up the boat for the season last weekend, my wife and I went out to eat at D’Parma’s Italian Restaurant, 467 Shirley Street.

We ate outdoors.

— Eye on Everett —

“He tries to shake down businessmen.”
– The Blue Suit talking to Josh Resnek

By JOSH RESNEK

The Blue Suit and I walked into McKinnon’s together. I wanted to buy some lamb grill.

It is amazing how no one noticed us. Made me think about reading “The Invisible Man,” the harrowing novel by Ralph Ellison.

“Have you read The Invisible Man?” I asked the Blue Suit as he browsed the meat aisle at McKinnon’s.

“Are you serious?” he replied. “It is one of my favorite books.

He recited the following to me from memory:

“I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allen Poe: Nor am I one of your Hollywood movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids, and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, simply because people refuse to see me.”

Men and women shoppers walked by us as he recited this me.

I was amazed.

“My life with Carlo is hell. He’s a terrible man. You don’t know the half of it. His fakery makes everything worse. Let me recite this other bit from the Invisible Man that reminds me of my place in the world because he owns me,” said the Blue Suit.

“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.”

“That’s exactly how I feel. It is exactly how so many others inside city hall feel working their jobs every day for Carlo. Mind you, not for the city, but for him, as though he owns city employees. It is pathetic, Josh. Believe me,” the Blue Suit added.

Outside McKinnon’s, we got into my red car, and we drove down Broadway.

“Look! Look there! That guy walking onto the construction site. He’s the mayor’s buddy. I know what’s going on. The mayor’s buddy is going to shake down the builder because he hasn’t yet contributed to the mayor’s re-election campaign,” the Blue Suit said.

The Blue Suit Blues

“Whats wrong? what has the mayor done to you now?”

– Josh Resnek to the mayor’s Blue Suit

By JOSH RESNEK

“Hey buddy, what’s the problem. I’ve never seen you so down. Did you rip a sleeve or cut a whole in your trouser? What’s up with you? I asked the Blue Suit.

We met for lunch Tuesday afternoon at the Vietnamese food court inside the supermarket on the Everett-Malden border on Broadway. The Blue Suit ordered chicken on top of a bed of pho, with diced cucumber, shredded carrots, and chopped scallion…with a cup of peanut sauce. An amazing treat.

I ate a bowl of pho with chicken and a medley of Vietnamese vegetables, chopped scallion, and oriental spices. Wow! What a treat.

$15 bucks for two.

I paid. The mayor never gives the Blue Suit any money to spend on himself. He doesn’t like taking him to the cleaners. He treats him – according to the Blue Suit – “like crap.”

“He treats everyone that way sooner or later,” the Blue Suit told me.

“What are you so down about?” I asked again.

He spilled peanut sauce on his pant leg. He wiped it away. “You really want to know what’s bothering me?” he said to me.

“Yes. I don’t like seeing you so morose. Did you lose your silk lining?” I asked.

The Blue Suit seemed frozen for a moment as if paralyzed.

Then he let it out.

CDC, state drop facemasks mandate

Last day will be May 29

By JOSH RESNEK

The CDC’s decision to allow those who have been vaccinated not to wear masks outside and inside, in some cases, has caused a great deal of confusion with the American public.

MAY 16: Everett residents continue to wear masks on Broadway. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

Now comes the decision by Governor Charlie Baker to drop all COVID-19 face mask restrictions on May 29.

This will include dropping as well most nearly all restrictions that have been in place since last March.

Here in Everett, the loosening of face mask restrictions outdoors by the CDC has done little to change the habits of the past year.

Most Everett residents are still seen wearing facemasks inside and outside, despite the policy change.

Governor Charlie Baker has allowed some restrictions regarding facemasks to remain in force until after the May 20.

It is expected Massachusetts will soon dispose of face mask mandates as we return to a new normal in the post-pandemic era.