The Fickle Pickle

Manny Ramirez reminded me of something recently. The public is fickle.

No shit, I know. The public sentiment was beginning to turn against Manny prior to his trade to LA. But any remaining support for the man drained away the instant the deal was announced.

I recognize this isn't a startling insight. But the timing of my revelation was a bit odd. I was actually thinking of Steve Karp.

As I noted a few months ago, Karp & Co. won over a number of fans with his showing in March. He meeted. He greeted. He spun some yarns, slapped up some fuzzy slides and told us all we love the town just the way it is. In short, he told us what we wanted to hear or, to continue the Manny comparison, he hit a few dingers.

But I see know how fleeting that support might be. In fact, I found my own warm feelings chilling a bit as a I sat on a park bench on Inn Street during Yankee Homecoming. I'd hurt my back, so I just sat and watched folks while the economic advistor to Newburyport Posts inspected the offerings of the Sidewalk Sales. (Offerings were a bit thin this year, but bargains were found.)

Well, I watched and listened. Eavesdropped actually, on a rather loud conversation between an amiable fellow who presented himself as someone who's done work with Karp and a native.

The pair must have started the conversation before I arrived, but the native apparently had revealed he had reservations about Karp's plan. The amiable--and slightly loud--fellow offered a public defense of Karp saying, in essence, that he's done good things on Nantucket and he'll do good things here.

The native was working and tried to put off the conversation, but the second fellow was persistent to the point of appearing a bit pushy to me.

The odd thing is this fellow was repeating many of the arguments that I continue to make, including the need for a hotel downtown. Still, I began to sense my own support of Karp to drain away just a little. One man's benign, but pushy, presentation caused me to reconsider my position.

A few weeks have passed, and I'm still optimistic about Karp's plans. But I'm a bit more apprehensive. I see now that Mr. Karp really does need to tread carefully around these parts. Since the March meeting, his support in this town runs far and wide, but I learned it's not particularly deep.

One misstep--perhaps the closing of a beloved business--and the good will might be gone.

Just ask Manny how fickle folks can be.