So Free Rangers,
This is a new one. It’s Thursday early afternoon, and Pasquale’s first day back; his formerly cubist elbow deflated to a more surrealist rendering, with only a slightly corpse-y cast to its features. He’s catching up, which is to say still at least slightly ahead of me on all fronts. A (younger than I, but not young) woman walks in wearing a heavy Russian accent, and clearly not enough command of the language to entirely convey what she is hoping. As always, Pasquale is kind and patient and tries to understand and help. It sounds like she’s asking about something to buy, but even this isn’t certain. She’s pointing toward the corner behind him, and eventually we understand that she’s pointing at the Zohran Mamdani poster in the window. She asks if he’s running for mayor, and Pasquale explains that yes he is, but the election isn’t happening yet. This causes further back and forth, and eventually she asks, “He is Muslim?”
Pasquale has the right idea at this point, calmly asks her if she is here to buy anything, gets no reply, and goes back to what he had been working on at the computer, with a bit of a sigh. I made the mistake of answering the question, with a trepidatious ‘yes’. To this, Natasha NoGoodNick asks with a smile, “why support a Muslim?” Lack of rest and/or days off have rendered me notably snippier than usual, and I had been trying to be extra nice due to the language barrier, and at this point I firmly tell her to leave the shop. She does not, until a string of aggressive profanity fires out through my teeth. At which point, she calls me a fascist (for supporting a socialist!?) and flips me several birds- accompanied by several F bombs– as I close the door with her on the other side. She makes a point to show me her favored fingers some more through the next window, as she wanders on her hateful way.
Why is it always the converts that are the most zealous? With this great a language barrier, there’s next to no chance she’s a citizen, but she’s ready to talk down about a highly moral, educated brown guy because of how he chooses to worship. As an atheist, I find the line of questioning absurd on many levels. Had I not flown directly into rage- for wasting our time as well as the blatant bigotry– I would have liked to have said: “I’m not supporting a Muslim. I voted in the primary and will again in the general for a young, sharp, moral candidate who has a lot of allies I admire.” But of course, she wouldn’t have understood this (nor cared if she had). I’m not naive about what one person can do in government, but how upset Mamdani makes incrementalist centrists (and at least one Russian immigrant- who tend to vote R) indicates that he’s onto something. While we’re at it, it’s profoundly shortsighted (and deeply shameful) that D leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Schmuck Chumer refuse to endorse Zohran Mamdani, their party’s rightfully elected nominee. I think the party needs new leadership across the board, as these ancient chuckleheads are clearly not up to the profound challenges of these (end) times. But I’m just an independent who registers D, to vote in primaries, so what do I know? … Who needs a drink?
Now, this week’s FREE in-store tasting is with our buddy, Richard from Wine For The World, a locally based importer and distributor working solely in ethically sourced and produced wine, or in their own words: We represent winemakers that have a positive impact on the world, in their communities, and on the environment. Click here to read more about their intent and mission: About Wine for the World. More importantly, they’re slinging some delicious juice, including those by Bosman, several of which are long time staples around this joint. So, please join us this Thursday, August 7th (5-7pm), for FREE tastes of red, white, skin contact white, and reserve Chenin Blanc by Bosman Family Vineyards, one of South Africa’s oldest and most progressive winemaking families, owned and operated by women.
And don’t sleep on our Sale of Sales which rolls on! We’ll keep adding to this monster sale list until the fall, and then it’s gone! And no backsies on these prices. This week’s notable additions include EH Taylor Small Batch Bourbon and Suntory Hakushu 12 and Hakushu 18!
Check out the full list of wine & spirits on sale here:
(!) Click here for Sale of Sales (!)
Cheers,
Jack
Proprietor
Free Range Wine & Spirits
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