The Conical Glass: Bedlam

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Bedlam

The saddest thing about the rioting in Oakland (read about it here if you're an out of towner, although the story seems to be getting quite a bit of play in the national media as well) is that so many small businesses are being hurt. These are people, many of them minorities, who are trying to make Oakland a better place. How many of them will feel like giving up after the mayhem that's swept over the city in the last couple of days?

I was really sad to see that one of my favorite restaurants, Flora, was hit. We went there for the first time on Halloween, when I was looking for something close to the Paramount Theater, where we were going to a screening of the silent movie "Phantom of the Opera." I was so crazy about the place that we've been back several times since then, most recently last Friday. Flora is in a really cool restored art deco building and has a wonderful seasonal menu. It's also the only place I've found in the East Bay where the cocktails are as good as the ones at Forbidden Island. The only downside to the place is that every time we've been there, it's been packed, and it gets pretty noisy.

Now, however, I'm hoping Flora's patrons will be coming back. I have to admit, if I had been there, I probably would have been terrified:

...manager Andee Brown described a scene of bedlam as rioters tried to break through a locked door while diners were enjoying a late dinner.

"Most of the customers were unaware of what was happening, but we knew the mob was coming toward us," she said. "We told the (night) manager to pull in the awnings and be ready to lock the door. She locked the door, but then seconds later they threw a concrete vase through the window."

A customer picked up a chair for protection, as rioters began hurling their bodies against the windows and reaching in through the broken glass. The rioters gave up after a few minutes and headed up Telegraph...

(from the San Francisco Chronicle)

For those who made the mistake of driving to the restaurant, well, their cars were probably smashed. I shudder to think of all the times I've parked on the street in that area. (My orthopedic surgeon and physical therapist also have their offices in that neighborhood.)

By the way, if you think you know who was causing all the damage -- young African-American males? was this another Rodney King-type riot? -- don't be so sure. I'm not saying they weren't involved at all, but according to the Chronicle, "The core group of the mob appeared to be about 40 people, several of whom were with Revolution Books, a Berkeley bookstore. A man distributed the 'Revolution' newspaper - whose tagline is 'voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party, U.S.A.' - as he shouted 'This whole damn system is guilty!'"

The Revolutionaries, I'm sure, would think I'm hopelessly bourgeois for eating at a restaurant like Flora, in what food critic Michael Bauer called "a changing hood" (i.e. one that's been gentrifying; condos are going up across the street). But Flora, and the Satisfied Nails salon, and even the nearby McDonald's that was also smashed up, represent people's livelihoods. Would the neighborhood, and the troubled city's economy, be better off if all of the storefronts were boarded up and deserted?

posted by 125records @ 4:21 PM

2 Comments:

At 10:59 PM, Janet A said…

I didn't realize Flora was hit. I was so upset from watching TV last night that I didn't read this morning's articles in the papers. I am having flashbacks to the riots of the 60s. Angry minorities with a real cause trashing and burning minority businesses.

Thank goodness things have calmed down some tonight.
At 2:12 PM, Janet Rudolph said…

Mobs are just that... mobs. What started out as a simple protest against the senseless killing of a young man as he lay prone on the BART platform (all the info isn't in yet on the situation but that's my take right now) turned into a riot. Destroying businesses, burning cars, etc. had nothing to do with the core of the protest. But that's what so often happens in riots. Very sad for a city like Oakland that is already plagued by an economic slowdown, lack of an adquately staffed police force and an absentee mayor. But that... it is another story.