LITTLE BEIRUT PORTLAND SHOWS UP

 

Get ready for Little Beirut Portland the right way.

Ask your policeman friends the right questions.

+ Is it safe?

– No, it’s not safe.

+ Is tonight the night?

–  We’re totally hands off. That’s why you see what you see.

+ Giving up the freeway?

–  The big surprise was getting to The Pearl. No one expected that.

+ They made the pivot. I heard the horse police are shooting paint balls at guys with bats.

–  I haven’t heard that.

+ Then the guys sweeping the streets can identify them.

–  Is this blog material? Are you interviewing for BoomerPdx?

+ Only with permission.

–  No names, no places, no nothing.

+ You’d be a good blogger. That’s always my focus.

–  That’s why I subscribed to boomerpdx.

+ Because it speaks to you?

–  No, because you don’t bash and crash, and when you do it’s not about you.

+ It’s never about me. That’s the rule here.

–  Good rule.

+ Is it ever about you?

–  You know the answer. You’ve worn a uniform. Put on a police uniform and it’s about you in the uniform, not you.

+ Respect the uniform?

–  That’s right. Respect the uniform, the law, and your fellow citizens.

+ Like the baby boomer couple looking for a Portland restaurant on date night.

–  I wouldn’t go downtown unless you want to ruin date night. Bridgeport Village is close. So’s the new place.

+ Progress Ridge.

–  Even closer.

+ This plays into the stereotype of secluded suburban types hiding inside gated communities.

–  Do you live in a gated community?

+ No.

–  Then no problem, no stigma.

+ Except the fear of the city.

–  This one night. Maybe a few more.

+ When do the gloves come off?

–  It’s not that easy. We’ve got more to deal with in a bigger picture.

+ Always a bigger picture, even when it’s just dinner.

–  Unless you want your car clubbed, windows broken, and your wife frightened.

+ She grew up in LA. She doesn’t frighten much.

–  How about you. This might be your call for both of you.

+ That’s why we’re talking. If I tell her police officers are concerned she might reconsider.

–  So this is marriage counseling.

+ Are you married? We all look for a little help with wives.

–  I’ll let you know when I need help. For now, downtown isn’t a prime destination.

+ Like little Beirut Portland when President Bush I showed up?

–  Something like that. We lost the freeway then, too.

+ So you’d stay home?

–  I wouldn’t go downtown.

+ You are going downtown.

–  That’s what I do, what policemen do.

+ That’s what Oregon’s boomer blogger does.

–  Oregon is more than Portland. A lot more.

+ This makes me soft.

–  We’re all soft, pal. That’s why we wear the hard gear in the street.