D. Klein remembers:
>We had cocktails at Moby Dick's and dinner at the Flame
>Room. It was one of the best nights I ever had downtown, and I will
>never forget it.
While I enjoyed many a sociological experience at Moby's, my most indelible
memory came courtesy of a saloon just a couple doors down - I believe the
place was called Brady's. Some friends and I had been out celebrating New
Year's Eve all night, and come dawn, wound up there, a classic dive with a
big curved block-glass wall. It was the first place I'd ever seen people
drinking with luggage by their feet. As my friends and I were about to
settle into a booth, a rather large gentleman noticed my, um, presence, and
stalked over to stick his finger in my chest. "Hey," he bellowed, peppering
my sternum, "you a Jew? You sure look like a Jew!"
Fortunately, my alcoholically experienced friends knew how to defuse a
drunk. But there it was - my first and so far only Minneapolis experience
with overt anti-Semitism. It wasn't the most pleasant of moments, but it
sure didn't scare me away from downtown. I happened to notice the other
night that several parking spots across the street from the police
sub-station by 5th & Hennepin had been commandeered from Thursday night to
Sunday morning - no doubt for the extra patrols now needed to police the
Warehouse District. I sure am glad we have a higher-spending class of
miscreant in our downtown these days.
David Brauer
King Field - Ward 10
