[review]

One of cool things at spending so much of my time in “the intellectual hub of Detroit” (the Wayne State slogan) is the truly cool people you meet when you keep your eyes open. I don’t mean “cool” in the ever elusive flavor-of-the-month sense of the word – rather I mean the type of person that you wouldn’t mind sitting next to on the plane for a couple hours.

I went to Bronx bar today after work. The place is a caricature of a dive bar – but in the most pleasant and intriguing of ways. The waitress/bartender/surrogate mother-type lady, that served as our burger broker, had honest stains on her shirt that made me feel like I had successfully ducked out of email-land and into a greasy paradise; complete with cheap beer.

Bronx is located on the corner of Second ave. and Prentis (next to the laundro-mat with the commissioned graffiti walls). Their hamburgers are worth every penny; the bread they use makes the burger.

Paul and I were winding down after a long day, and waiting for our food order, when a somewhat Daria-esque looking woman, sans stand-offish attitude, sat down across from us in the smoking section. She was pleasant and at first glance I guessed her to be pretty smart. By the time we finished talking two hours later; we had covered Derrida, race relations in Detroit, Ayn Rand, and window washers in New York. We said our good-byes and exchanged emails; not thinking it odd to form ad hoc social groups.

Fate, not content with us meeting one interesting person today – introduced us to another. On our way back to Paul’s car a guy hiding in the bushes along the sidewalk popped out and proceeded to give us permission to eat raspberries from his bushes. After getting over the surprise…I thanked the man, reached up, plucked a berry and popped it into my mouth.

I paid for the meal – I guess Detroit, in a way all its own, provided me with desert.