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INTRODUCTION
As you may remember, starting last March I joined a yearlong monthly event called We Are The World Blogfest.
The purpose of this event is to highlight positive news stories, presenting these stories on your blog on the last Friday of the month.
This being the last Friday of September, I’ve a news story to share with you, my gentle readers & fellow #WATWB participants.
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THE NEWS STORY
Earlier this month when Hurricane Irma made landfall in the USA, Key West was hard hit. After the hurricane moved farther north, for those people who didn’t evacuate Key West, there was no running water, no electric power– and no cell phone service.
One of the people who didn’t evacuate was Buco, a mechanic at The Green Parrot, a famous bar and Key West icon.
In the aftermath of the hurricane, Buco figured out that the closed restaurant next door had a landline connection that was still working. Using an old hand set, Buco was able to get a landline telephone working and accessible to people at the side door of The Green Parrot.
The bar then allowed anyone to make a free two-minute call using the phone so that the residents still in Key West could assure their friends and family that they were ok.
[Full story here: A Key West Dive Bar Closed For The Hurricane, But Let 500 People In To Phone Loved Ones]
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MY COMMENTARY
Overlooking the fact that what Buco did, pirating a phone line, is technically illegal, this story is a feel good one in which human ingenuity and kindness comes together to help everyone.
I especially liked Buco’s observation about the people who stood in line to use the phone. He said: “it’s always their mother’s number that they remember.”
While The Green Parrot [“a sunny place for shady people”] is famous in and of itself, the latest mention of it in the news, under the circumstances, makes me smile about the bar and the people who work there.
[Click here to view Bar Cam].
I can’t help thinking… road trip, anyone? ‘Cause I know a place I’d like to visit. 🍻
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I call shot-gun :-). The Green Parrot sounds like my kind of hang out.
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Yay, Dana. Don’t you love this whole story and the possibility of hanging out at this bar? Good people are everywhere in this world.
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That’s a good one. Truly, I dial few numbers by heart — my mother, my husband, his parents, and my friend HME. I suppose that does say a lot about us — whose number we know is whose number we need to know.
Great share, Ally Bean.
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joey, I remember my ob-gyn about 10 years ago commenting on how few telephone numbers his patients seemed to know. He wondered what it all meant about changes in our society. I’ve come to believe that it means exactly what you said: we know the numbers we need to know.
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Buco was meant to stay behind because the ‘powers-that-be’ had a plan for him…a special task to help 500 people.
Having a working phone during all that chaos and trauma, and panicking about loved ones – is pure GOLD!
Thank you for sharing this story.
Writer In Transit
#WATWB #InDarknessBeLight
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Michelle Wallace, I think you’re right. Buco was the right person for the job at hand– and was fated to be where he was. I’m glad you liked the story. It made me smile from beginning to end.
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Truly the best reason to perform illegal acts of kindness! Great post Ally Bean thanks!
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Susan, exactly what I thought! I adored how Buco made do with what he had– puny legal details be darned.
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I wanted to say about Buco bucking the system –
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Funny how a positive story hinges on someone doing a not so legal thing. Life can be a goof, sometimes.
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Hi Ally – couldn’t agree more with you and the others … an amazing tale – and hey bother the illegalities – much more important for people to contact their loved ones. Brilliant – film scenarios are made of this … I just feel for the devastation everyone must be going through now – it just takes so much energy to deal with these sorts of devastating natural events. Great name is Buco … cheers Hilary
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Hilary, I thought this story demonstrated how ingenuity can be put to good use, especially when one overlooks a few, as you said, “illegalities.” Got to love a guy named Buco who knows how to get things going. Heads up, Hollywood.
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As I started reading that was my thought – “Wait, it’s not his phone line!”, but then I thought under the circumstances, did that really matter? It’s all priorities, isn’t it? How nice to hear about people helping out instead of being angry and screaming.
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Carol, I thought the same thing when I started reading the article. Then, after smiling to myself about this guy’s cleverness, I remembered that what he’d done is not legal. HOWEVER, considering, I think his priorities were in the right place. Plus, it’s Key West… so maybe the illegality isn’t such a big deal?
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Save me a seat for your road trip! I don’t think we visited The Green Parrot when we were in Key West a few years ago. Clearly that was an oversight that needs to be rectified. I love this story… a little naughty and a lot nice.
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Janis, your seat is saved. I’ve never been to Key West– which is odd considering how many times I’ve been to Florida in my life. HOWEVER, now that I know there’s someone named Buco there, someone who know what’s important in life after a hurricane, I want to go. 😉
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Great story, Ally. Thanks for finding the good out there. Sometimes it is hard to see!
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Janet, I agree. The positive stories don’t get the attention they deserve, which is why I’m grooving on this #WATWB. It’s only about positive/good/uplifting stories.
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This is a cool story! I also heard the at the Hemingway cats survived. All good.
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Kate, I read the same thing. In fact that’s how I stumbled over this story. I looked up Key West to find out about the cats, then saw this article so I read it, too.
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So . . . I checked out the web cam and I wonder: do customers know they are “on the air”???
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nancy, I wondered the same thing and I have no answer. I know that in downtown Naples FL there’s a web cam as you walk down the sidewalk and there’s a sign that says so, but as for The Green Parrot I could not say. I think that we all are on camera somewhere more often than we think we are. It’s a different world now.
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Ingenuity and good will – what perfect qualities to have in the aftermath of widespread challenge!
It made me smile reading this story knowing that one of the totem medicines of Parrot is remembering the power of one’s words. How perfect Green Parrot was part of delivering welcome words to those concerned about the safety of their loved ones.
Nice find Ally Bean!
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Deborah, I agree that the right person was in the right place with the right skills to help everyone who needed it. I love the idea that only an old-fashioned landline could get through to the mainland. I didn’t know that about the parrot totem meaning, but kismet, eh? That makes this story even more interesting to me.
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This is a feel-good story, and sometimes the rules need to be bent under the circumstances. This was clearly one of those times. That short phone call to a loved one is so meaningful – on both sides. It seems to me Buco has his priorities in the right place.
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Joanne, I agree that this was one of those situations in which bending the rules made sense. I know that I’ve had experiences after a hurricane waiting around up north for a phone call from family down south– and two minutes would be enough to set my heart at ease.
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I can’t imagine the agony of waiting 😦
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Yes, it’s something weird when it happens. Nothing to do but distract yourself, and stay near your phones, cell and landline. 😧
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More POSITIVE news stories? Yes please! 😀 We need more like this!
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cherylbalcom, I like #WATWB because it can never hurt to add a dash of positivity to the blogosphere. Plus it’s fun to write a blog post based on news instead of my life. You know?
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Hilarious that there’s a bar cam running. If the guy paid the fee for the phone calls, it hardly feels like stealing. Really nice gesture. Thanks for the smile. I hadn’t heard this.
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Betsy, good point. If The Green Parrot paid for the phone charges then this is a case of borrowing, not stealing. I thought this was a wonderful story that made me laugh and filled the bill of being positive.
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Count me in for this road trip too, Ally! What a feel-good post! I absolutely adore this series!
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Donna, happy to have you along on the road trip. I agree, this #WATWB has been a good one.
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Illegal, certainly. But the right thing to do without a doubt. Providing reassurance to worried families always trumps hijacking a phone line in my book! Great story!
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datmama4, I agree that it was the right thing to do. I found the whole story entertaining as well as life-affirming.
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Aw, thatsa nice.
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Tara, yes it is. 😀
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I love the story, and have always wanted to visit Key West. I think there would be some amazing people watching there. 😉
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Margaret, I have no doubt that the people of Key West would be worth the drive alone. It’s a heck of a long way to drive down there, but once there I’d sit back and enjoy.
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I love how this story has 2 sides – I think in life we have a choice what we focus on: the good deed or the bad stuff. Your story chose well, thank you! ☺
Tbh I’d be in a serious trouble calling anyone with my phone off – I don’t remember any numbers any more! 🙈
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Miss Andi, that’s a good observation about this story. There’s definitely good and bad going on here, focus on what counts.
I think everyone no longer remembers phone numbers. Makes me think we all need to write a few of them down on a piece of paper to have handy, just in case.
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Totally want to go to the Green Parrot!
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I know! Me, too. 😎
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I’ll join you on the road trip! That sounds like a great place to visit, and I’d love to meet the people who frequent the bar. I have to smile at the whole illegal bit that is offset by humanity and kindness. If he’d used the phone line to call in friends to vandalize abandoned properties, for example, this story would be completely different.
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Kate, welcome aboard our theoretical Key West getaway! I’ve been to FL a million times, but never got to Key West which is odd considering I’m an English major and like cats! I agree that the context of why Buco did what he did, negates the illegality of it. Fun story all around. Thanks for stopping by to comment.
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What a generous service and lifeline to let people make those necessary little calls. Thanks for sharing, Ally.
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simonfalk28, I agree. I loved this story, and not just because it was an old-school solution to a problem. Thanks for stopping by to comment.
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