District of Cats (Alleycats) Panel Discussion presented by Humanities DC's DC Oral History Collaborative as assembled by Stephanie Bastek and Eric Eikenberry
not sure how to frame this
I apologize for any incorrect titling of those involved
at PJ's Sister City Alleycat I met Stephanie and Eric
that was the Alleycat in 100 degree heat where I had my Heat Exhaustion episode
at the finish I met Stephanie and Eric
well... actually... I had met them before
if I had not met them before
we had stood in the same place at the same time before
when I met them I recalled seeing them at an Alleycat or two prior to this day
it impressed me that this duo finished so close to the top finisher when they were not messengers or regular Alleycat racers
when I talked with Stephanie... I was intrigued to learn about this Oral History project
more specifically
this DC Messenger Oral History project
at PJ's Sister City Alleycat there was mention of this September Event
at the time the September Date was the summer season away
last week on Facebook there was a message sent to the DC Alleycat page
as one of the Admins of this page I accepted the message and shared the information about the event to the DC Alleycats Page and the DC Bicycle Messengers Page
DC Alleycats on Facebook
quick into the conversation I was curious about who would be on the panel
there was hesitation in my mind about the event
but...
when I learned that Jeff aka 88 or Painted Nails would be on the panel along side other messenger legends Andy Zalan and Brian Clark aka Bigs my notion of the event changed
once I heard who was on the panel
my desire to attend shifted from "maybe" to "definitely"
not to dwell on it
but...
the flyer said it started at 6PM
when... it actually started at 7PM
I am aware of this trick
when I coached youth soccer I would fudge the game time in the emails to try and get the parents to show up on time
so... I understand the notion of trying to create a buffer so that people show up on time
but...
I would have preferred to have known that the event starting at 7 instead of my showing up at 6
when I walked into Busboys and Poets I could hear the chimes of the clock from Catholic University telling the world that it was six pm
only to walk into a nearly vacant room
where the panel was sitting down for dinner
that was awkward
it did agitate me that I was going to spend the next hour watching the panel eat dinner
that said... Eric smoothed things over pretty quickly by offering to buy me a beer
apparently...
most everyone who was attending had learned of the event via "word of mouth"
or
"word of text"
others knew about the 7PM start
so... this did in fact start on time
and
the time leading up to the panel discussion had its amusing moments
Andy Zalan had a number of photos scrolling through a loop on a screen behind the stage
as each image appeared it was like a game
the panel representative competed in a Messenger Version of Family Feud where they immediately tried to determine where each photo was taken
it was funny to see the exchange between Andy, Jeff, and Brian
there was rarely agreement between them
three strong personalities
it intrigued me... that in this circle... this could be an actual game!
a visual version of NAME THAT TUNE
a messenger game NAME THAT CORNER
unfortunately... I do not think that last night's event was not recorded
which sort of goes against the Oral History documentation concept
not being recorded... I can not share a link to view the discussion
that said...
it was humorous... it was informative... it was entertaining...
Jeff aka 88 gave his impression of his entry to the Messenger scene
talking about its exclusive nature
how two years into things Jeff got involved in a Bike Messenger Race... perhaps the FIRST DC ALLEYCAT... all in an effort to make friends and gain acceptance into this very exclusive group
Jeff is a great story teller... he speaks well with a clever twist and humorous spin
Andy Zalan leaped in with some fact checking and some questions
just as Jeff was representing the "old school"
Brian Clark was representing the "new breed"
was Bigs a Rookie because he only had a decade of messenger experience?
the panel discussion was supposed to be about Alleycat
which was strangely truncated into "cats"
like Sunny Delight being called SunnyD
Alleycats were being called Cats
the panel discussion was set to be about Alleycats
so... the talk started with Jeff telling his story about what may have been the FIRST ALLEYCAT in Washington DC
the long at the short of it...
was it a Messenger Race or was it an Alleycat?
Jeff won... and Jeff won the respect and approval of his peers
the event started and finished at Dante's on 14th Street
which has some DC History in itself...
Dante is the son of the owners of Food for Thought
Metro Bar was his bar before he opened The Black Cat
so... in many ways
a panel discussion like this is a discussion of the changing of the times
for Jeff to start as a messenger in 1988
there is much to be said about the world
and
how different the world was in 1988
I tried not to be obnoxious with my input... but I felt like some of the discussion needed background
when asked to tell about the day to day life of the messenger Jeff gave a fun response talking about the weather and the risks
but... left out the details of the day
personally... I felt that the notion of Two Way Radios needed to be discussed
as in 1988 there was no Internet
which means... there was no Web Page... there was no eMail... there were no Smart Phones... heck... there were not really computers
THERE WAS PAPER!
IT WAS ANALOG
after a few interjections... I was shut down... rightfully so... I was in the audience... not a participant... not a mediator... my bad... sorry
I could not contain myself...
as there was discussion about the decline of the messenger industry
citing both the change of technology and 9-11
I could not contain myself... Anthrax... I felt the the Anthrax scare needed to be mentioned
as it was Anthrax not 9-11 that greatly reduced messenger access to many government buildings
as well as changing routine and building access across the board
more mail room drops than drops to the actual recipients office or floor
each member of the panel had a very different personality
Jeff was telling funny stories
Andy was less anecdotal and giving more broad explanations and trying to give more factual presentation
while Brian Clark spoke when spoken to
each member of the panel brought something to the table
again...
sorry it was not filmed
as I feel it would have been an amusing document for people to view on their own
that is enough on that
thanks Stephanie and Eric for teaming up with the Humanities DC Oral History Collaborative
this was an interesting night in DC
I am a firm believer in the value of oral history
this is a story that is fun to be told
not gonna proof this
just publish and post
DC Oral History Collaborative
Andy Zalan Dot Com
Check Out Andy's Photos on his Web page