Someone asked me the other day what happened to Front Street in Berwick. This person said that when he left Berwick in 1950, Front Street was alive. There were 35 business places and they stayed open every night until at least 10 o’clock. There were parking meters, so you could find a place to park.
Well, I told him that when the two floodwalls came, almost one half of the business places were torn down. The theatre closed; the post office moved; the two drug stores closed; the confectionery left; and the bank closed. These are the main businesses which bring people together in a central business district.
Also, do you remember when Morgan City had a bank, theatres, drugstore and confectioneries on the main drag? Now they are all gone to other locations. You have the theatre in one location; drug stores in other locations and banks scattered around in the Morgan City area. Businesses like these need to be centrally located if you want your people to be together.
I never know what to order when I go to a Mexican restaurant. Every time I order enchiladas, I get red beans and rice. When I order burritos, I get red beans and rice. When I order fajitas, I get red beans and rice. When I order red beans and rice, I get hot tamales.
Will someone tell me what’s good that doesn’t have red beans and rice? So far, everything I ate there, I enjoyed.
What is the fastest shave that you ever got by a barber? I’ll never forget a few years back, I was in a hurry but needed a shave. I had only 15 minutes to spare. Someone told me to go see Murphy Ratcliff, the barber in Morgan City. I did. I asked Mr. Ratcliff if he could shave me in 10 minutes. He said he could, if I laid down in his chair, which I did.
Someone told me Mr. Ratcliff could shave you better after he took a few drinks. While I was lying down, Mr. Ratcliff had his razor blade over my face and his hands were trembling. I got nervous and I started trembling. He laid that razor under my right ear and made one whack to my left ear; and then under my chin with another whack to my nose. In two whacks, he was though. This took just two minutes. That gave me eight minutes to spare. So, that gave me enough time to go home and change my underwear.
How do you like those automobile commercials? You can’t tell if they are advertising cars or fence posts. The announcer talks so fast that it sounds like a Texas Longhorn auction. To me, I think if you would show the close-up view of a car with a beautiful lady with the year 2050 style bathing suit sitting on the fender, this would show you more of what you want to see.
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