For my son's last day of school, we took him out for lunch. He picked his favorite diner—J&S Hamburg, a downtown institution. This small, white, cinderblock building has big strawberry shakes and regulars who hang out and give my son quarters for the M&M dispenser. Jack's loved the place since he began having opinions on such matters, and as a mom, it's perfect. Nothing too fancy. People are charmed, vs. affronted, if a kid stands up and shouts "Hi! I'm Jack!" They let him spin on the stools, instead of shooing him off for scaredy-cat liability reasons.
But things are changing. For one, they just banned smoking. And secondly, the end times have arrived. The demolition next door is in full swing. Developers are razing a former auto dealership in order to build a four-story complex of apartments, offices and storefronts, including a new home for our beloved diner. J&S will be bulldozed, to make way for a parking lot.
We're collectively sad about this. "Can't we have any small buildings?" I ask, rhetorically.
After we pull in, Jack darts over to the construction zone, where a yellow scooper truck is biting a tangle of steel beams. Jack turns to me, and quotes SpongeBob:
"Smells like big business."
***
Inside, before we leave, the waitress congratulates Jack on "graduating" from kindergarten.
"I'm a first-grader now."
"How nice!" she says.
"Why can't we have any small buildings?" he asks her.
She thinks for a second, then gets this nonsequitor. "I know," she commiserates. "All the buildings are big." She assures him that the new J&S will be nice. Jack says he likes this one. They're at a standstill.
"But you can take that with you." He turns around and points to a black-and-white picture on the wall. It's a vintage photo of diner, maybe from the 1930s.
"Yes, we can," she says. "And we're taking the grill too."
"What else are you taking?" he asks.
"I'm not sure," she says.
"The plates?"
"I don't know," she says.
"The radio?"
"I don't know," she says.
"Everything that's detached?" he asks.
She blinked at him. "I don't know."
"But you are taking the picture," he says, clarifying the situation, content to nail down at least one fact in this ever-changing world.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Jack and "The Man"
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1 comment:
I totally agree, I too am saddened by the news of J&S Hamburg moving to a new location. I'm a NMC student, majoring in photography. For my final portfolio I decided to photograph the "restuarant experience" at many local restuarants. During my ventures I was notified by a waitress at J&S that they would be moving. I was devistated and changed my topic to "Ode to J&S". I got some really amazing black and white photos from J&S. Our photo two class had a show at the State of the Art and Framing on fourteenth street where my work and my fellow classmates got to show off our best work. Also I am in the process of writing a paper about the new parking garage that they want to build downtown. I haven't even used the one we have yet! In my opinion they should put a parking garage at NMC instead and leave our diner alone. The parking on campus, and Dennos Museum is awful. I honestly feel that the heart and soul of J&S will fade with the move, and can't say that I will continue to eat at J&S.
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