Friday, January 27, 2012

Carl Sandburg and the (Brookline) Country Club

Yesterday evening, Marash Girl and Marash Boy were to attend a gathering at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.  Upon entering The Country Club, we were approached by a young man spiffily dressed in a suit and tie.  "Excuse me," he interrupted Marash Boy's thoughts, "but what are you wearing under that trench coat?"  Or at least that's what Marash Girl thinks he said.  The young man went on to amend that statement, asking, "Are you wearing a jacket?"  "Oh, yes," Marash Boy assured him.  "But," went on the suited and tied young man, "are you wearing a necktie?"  (Gotcha!) Now it should be known that throughout the years, Marash Boy has always kept a tie in the car, or in his jacket pocket, in preparation for such circumstance, but recently, as dress codes have relaxed for men, or at least in the mind of Marash Boy, the tie is the last accoutrement Marash Boy wishes to add to his attire.  You can guess the ending to this story.  The suit and tied young man escorted Marash boy to the Club's coat rack where were kept for just such occasions a group of (rather tasteless) men's neckties.  Marash Boy was given the choice of selecting one such necktie to place under his shirt collar or of leaving the premises.  Because Marash Boy was with Marash Girl, he chose to tie the tasteless piece of neckwear under his shirt collar.  

All of this was reminiscent of a film that Marash Girl saw many years ago, a film about the life and work of Carl Sandburg in which Carl Sandburg was asked, "What is the ugliest word in the English language?"  Sandburg answered, without hesitation, "Exclusive."

N.B. Elina, take note -- You knew the answer to that question!

7 comments:

  1. That was a pretty obnoxious experience!!!

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  2. obnoxious for whom? for the 'spiffily' dressed young man, it validated his job, his position in life, as keeper of the code.... i should think he returned home to tell the tale of this obnoxious over the hill couple who did not have the good sense or civility to be dressed appropo to the occasion, even to the point of having no recourse any where in their vehicle. thank God we are still driving around, and not forced to take the street car/bus, or rickshaw.

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    1. Marko Pasha says....I would it was pretty obnoxious on the part of the Country Club and the young brat. There's a lot that can be said about it, but I'll leave it with the famous words of Groucho Marx "Any club that would have me for a member I wouldn't join." 'Nuff said.

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    2. M.P. adds....and in the words of Narciso Yepes "Muchas pretenciones y pocos resultados". Speaking of resultados how was the food for all of the pretentiousness?

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  3. I agree with Groucho on this one. I went to the Algonquin Club on Commonwealth Ave for lunch several years ago with a friend who is a member there. This friend wears Bolero ties (it's his 'thing'). They asked him to put on a tie. He told the maitre 'd he was wearing a tie. The kid didn't know what to do. He wanted Frank (my friend) to tie himself up in a double Windsor! The flaking irony of it was the waiter was stacking the plates when clearing the table. Of course this in-the-know non-blue-blood girl (moi) let him know that we would change our attire as soon as he began to practice proper table service! :-)
    I can pretty much guarantee you that 40 years ago, people of our ethnicity and or gender would not have been welcomed to dine at either the Country Club of Brookline or the Algonquin Club. From what I hear, there is a woman of color on the Board of Directors at the AC today!

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    1. M.P. adds again....The best story on this subject is told about our hero Nasruddin Hoja. Hoja was invited to a dinner at the sheihk's palace. Hoja arrive wearing the same ragged clothes that he always wore. The servant informed that he could be admitted wearing shabby clothing. Hoja went home, put on nice new clothes and returned to the palace where he was duly admitted. After he sat down at the table he proceeded to throw food over his clothing. Of course the others guests looked at him in wonder and asked what he was doing. "It was the suit that was invited to dinner, not me."
      Janet, my father remembered a lot of places where "people of our ethnicity" were decidedly not welcome. My dad's accountant was from the Fall River area. When the Country Club at long last opened its doors to Jews S'uncle F was the first in line to apply for membership. S didn't speak to his uncle for a long time after that.

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    2. M.P. tells one last anecdote for he evening relevant to the Algonquin Club. A friend of mine used to perform at the Algonquin on classical guitar.I don't know if he still does.
      His comment to me at the time was that the Harvard Club didn't pay well and also didn't pay promptly. The Algonquin Club didn't pay at all.

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