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Conversations
With Harry
By
Ian Kennedy
One
evening a few weeks ago, while in San Francisco, I found myself at loose ends. I
was roaming around a run down area of the waterfront when 1 wandered into a
seedy looking bar. Three or four of the tables were occupied and there were only
a couple of people at the bar. I took a seat at the end of the bar and was able
to see most of the occupants in the bar's mirror.
At
one table, a group of three men sat drinking and chatting. One of them, a man of
a goodly number of years, kept glancing in my direction. Finally he got up and
come over to me-
"I
couldn't help but notice your cap, ILWU, I don't recall local 52." he said.
I
responded," Local 52 is the clerks local out of Seattle. You look familiar
to me, but I cant place you."
He
chuckled," That's because you're seeing me out of context." He
replied. "Why don't you come over and join me and my friends?"
I
did, "This is HENRY SCHMIDT," he nods, "and JERRY BULCKE, Oh, and
me, I'm BRIDGES, HARRY BRIDGES."
I
didn't know what to think, what kind of a joke were they pulling? Was it a joke?
" I'm IAN KENNEDY, retired from local 52." I recalled the few times I
had met HARRY BRIDGES and photos I had seen of him. There was a very strong
likeness. I decided to play along to see how far they go,
"I
see you're a little confused. Did you attend my service? We come back once a
month, just to keep our eye on how things are being handled. Same spot, same
table, same time,"
I
sat back, waved at the waiter for a round as 1 sucked up the last of my beer.
"What have you determined, how does the Union fair?"
Well
son," he responds, "I sure do regret, that after all the effort we put
into the six hour day, they threw that idea out the window and are now working
nine and ten hour days. There really was no-"
"Sorry
HARRY, we really must be going." HENRY SCHMIDT interrupted.
"Yeah,
hay kid why don't you pay the tab for us and come back next month and we'll
finish our talk?"
I
want up to the bar and paid the tab. When I turned, they were gone. I left the
bar, wondering, am I dreaming?
Check
future issues for Conversations With HARRY.
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