As I\u2019m writing, the government is shut down. Hopefully, when you read this it\u2019ll be functioning again. Though I\u2019m not sure how we\u2019ll be able to tell. Oops, did I say that out loud? Just kidding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, government shutdowns are never good, but we\u2019ve been through similar events and many of us \u2014 unless we\u2019re not being paid \u2014 have become a little \u201cOb-la-di, ob-lada\u201d about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But during one particular shutdown, pandemonium ensued. At least on Shelter Island. It was the fall of \u201995, right before Thanksgiving. On the first day of the shutdown, Shelter Island was thrown into turmoil, but not over what was happening in the government. Our own version of \u201cshock and awe\u201d occurred at 2 Grand Ave., aka Louie\u2019s Barber Shop, on Nov. 14, 1995, and I had a front-row seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back then,I did my writing in an office next to Louie\u2019s. Not just next to it, but attached. My space and the barber shop were like conjoined twins.I\u2019m sure Louie paid no attention to what happened at my half of the conjoinment, but I never stopped watching what was going on over there. And during that government shutdown,that shock and awe was compounded by calamity, chaos and some downright shaggy-looking men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My window faced the sidewalk to the shop and I\u2019d stare out, mulling, because that\u2019s what writers do when we don\u2019t feel like writing. However, staring and mulling did help me conjure up a murder mystery and about four newspaper columns \u2014 five if we count this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shutdown started on a Tuesday, always a busy day at a barber shop that\u2019s closed on Sunday and Monday. I sat at my desk, mulling, and watched an older gentleman walk toward the barber\u2019s door. Nothing unusual \u2014 it happened at least a dozen times a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this guy stopped at my window. I assumed he was waiting for someone to exit the shop. But no one did. He just stood there as if frozen, arms dangling by his side, eyes wide, mouth hanging open, like, \u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was as if he was pretending to be a statue. But why? Only little kids do that, not old men. Then it dawned on me: He wasn\u2019t pretending to be a statue. This guy was having a stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, I\u2019d read an article about what to do if someone had a stroke. It was the Reader\u2019s Digest condensed version, further condensed because Inever finished the article. But a little help is better than none, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before I could get to the door another man showed up and as it turned out, medical intervention was not necessary. The first man spontaneously recovered and started talking and pointing at the front of the barber shop. Then they stood still and stared, both of them, frozen, but I wasn\u2019t falling for that again. After several minutes, they left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course I went outside to see what had caused that near stroke and collective consternation. There it was, handwritten, all caps: BARBER SHOP CLOSED!!! ON VACATION!!! SEE YOU IN THREE WEEKS!!! While the rest of the country dealt with the government shutdown, Shelter Island was rocked by its own crisis. Each day, progressively shaggierlooking men walked up that narrow sidewalk. They would stop and stare in disbelief. They just couldn\u2019t get over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes they\u2019d open the screen and try the door knob. Still locked. One or two of them even rapped on the glass pane. Hard! The knock of desperate men whose wives told them at the end of Octobwwwwer to \u201cplease!\u201d get their hair cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some were accompanied by their wives. That first guy, the one who didn\u2019t have a stroke? He showed up the next day with his wife and pointed to the sign. She had her hands on her hips and her mouth was drawn into such a tight, angry line, her lips disappeared. (Mulling writers notice those things.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When her lips reappeared, I could read them. She said, \u201cYa big dope! I told ya last week to get your hair cut. But did you listen? Nooo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That government shutdown lasted four days, but here the pandemonium continued. For three weeks I watched as dozens of men stopped short at the door of the barber shop. Some came a couple times a day. A few cursed. Groups of them would gather in a row, like sullen crows on a fence. Unshorn and forlorn, they\u2019d stare at that sign. They\u2019d wander off only to reconvene the next day and the day after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following that short shutdown, the government went into another, even longer shutdown. But by then, it didn\u2019t matter here because the lights were on at 2 Grand Ave. Louie was back and, once again, all was right with the world\u2026 At least our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joanne Sherman is a Shelter Island resident and longtime contributor to Times Review.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As I\u2019m writing, the government is shut down. Hopefully, when you read this it\u2019ll be functioning again. Though I\u2019m not sure how we\u2019ll be able to tell. Oops, did I say that out loud? Just kidding. Of course, government shutdowns are never good, but we\u2019ve been through similar events and many of us \u2014 unless…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":128481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,1743,36],"tags":[1141,17978,3621],"coauthors":[17059],"class_list":["post-130040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-columns","category-featured-story","category-opinion","tag-guest-column","tag-joanne-sherman","tag-shutdown"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n