In ’89 Café Brasil was a coffee shop. I had just moved here. Me and three other people bought a top-of-the-line Mac and started a graphic design business. Those were my OffBeat cover days…
I’d go to Café Brasil once in awhile and pretty much just sit quietly and watch the locals. Sitting outside, sipping coffee, gazing at the American Billiards sign across the street… It was my favorite abandoned building on Frenchmen, at one time it glorified my favorite game, bill-ee-yards… Later on it became the Praline Connection. I hated to see that sign go. I held a grudge for a long time against that restaurant.
Anyway, I started going down there by myself, sipping coffee, not saying much, keeping my mouth shut, wishing I could join in, that I could converse a bit, but I’m feeling like I did when I was the new kid back in my school days. I moved around a lot. An introvert wishing to be an extrovert.
After about six months in New Orleans, I made my first running-around, pool-shooting friend. His name was Fritz, and he’d been in town for two weeks.
We’re hanging out one night, and we walk down to Café Brasil. Amazingly enough, he knows everybody. There’s hugs, handshakes, smiles… I stand there astonished. He’d been here two weeks, and I’d been around for months, and I didn’t know anybody… I’m standing there wondering what’s his secret.
I’m pondering this to myself, then after awhile it hit me: He said hi to people. And lo and behold, they said hi back.
I’d never lived in a place where strangers said hi back. That was a huge eye-opener for me. I learned a lot that night, learned to let my guard down a bit… and fell in love with New Orleans.
*Story written by Jim Smith, not an interview
[Stay tuned for full-length interview!]
