Smoke on the Water

In which I endorse a bagel sandwich and a coffee shop, and oppose vandalism

There is a relatively new coffee shop/cafe in my neighborhood called Milkcrate. It is the second of two locations of a local Philly business. It sells or plays vinyl records, and has excellent bagel sandwiches.

I had never been in there before because I usually go to the little Ethiopian cafe right across the street when I get my coffee out on my walk on weekends. I make coffee at home on weekdays, but on weekends when I take hours long walks, the coffee shop corner across from Clark Park is the ideal place to stop for a bathroom break and coffee.

A few months ago I was on my Sunday morning walk when I noticed that Milkcrate’s windows (it’s a storefront place where the front walls are floor to ceiling windows) had been smashed. But the sign said they were still open, so I went in.

I asked if everyone was okay. They said yes, and that it had happened at three in the morning and no one was there, nothing was stolen. It was purely an act of vandalism.

I bought a coffee to support them, and noticed that they had a bagel sandwich called Smoke on the Water that is cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, cucumber and onion. Paradise on a bagel. I bought one of those too, even though I try to limit my bagel consumption because it can get out of control.

My first thought was to wonder if the vandalism was an example of anti-Jewish violence, as my neighborhood is filled with expressions of antisemitism. (I know, I gotta move.) I have no idea if the owners are Jewish or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in a place where it is routine for people wearing keffiyehs to walk down the street saying they think Israel should be wiped off the map (That’s not praying for peace, y’all), violence against an Israeli or Jewish owned business might take place. I still don’t know.

I checked our local neighborhood Facebook group, which really is a hive of all kinds of villany but also has some nice posts at times about people trying to help each other out and find lost pets.

In response to inquiries about what had happened, there were posts that said the vandalism was a strike against gentrification. Someone said something to the effect of, that’s not very effective. Someone argued back that smashed windows, gun shots and loud groups of youth were actually effective in preventing gentrification.

Oh my. So now we endorse the destruction of property as a tool of change? If so, that is not the kind of change I want to see in the world.

A locally owned business trying to make good use of a corner where many businesses have failed is a really stupid target for those trying to do anything good for the neighborhood. Do they think that the poor black people who have been displaced by white hippie anarchists will benefit from smashing windows?

I think about the black seniors at the West Philadelphia YMCA where I used to work out. They do not want to walk around seeing more broken windows. It does not help them to destroy property. Black people who have lived in this neighborhood for generations would benefit from efforts to clean up the trash that is everywhere just west and north of where I live, not from creating more damage.

I saw a meme somewhere that showed a white woman saying, “I don’t feel safe in my neighborhood,” and another person answers, “You literally voted for this.”

I don’t think I voted for this, but after years of supporting “progressives,” I am now much more specific in who and what I choose to support. Watching almost all “progressive” organizations turn against Israel, minimize or deny the atrocities of October 7, and rally in support of a terrorist organization that would throw most of them off the nearest roof or worse, has really changed my mind.

There are many so-called progressive causes that I do support. Harm reduction, which is under attack in Philadelphia and everywhere. Medications for people with HIV. Education for poor kids, of all colors, everywhere. I will not break windows, scream at people on the street, or cover my face at a demonstration in support of any of those, and I am actively afraid of those who do.

What I can do is support the little coffee shop that got vandalized. I got a Smoke on the Water sandwich this morning. There were no keffiyah-wearing people there, and given the prevalence of those in my neighborhood (all of them white by the way, I have literally never seen a person who looked to be of any kind of middle Eastern ancestry wearing the symbol of a terrorist organization), it does make me wonder if the place is Israeli and/or Jewish owned.

The sandwich is great. And they have caper cream cheese. Caper cream cheese!

Visit Milkcreate Cafe if you are in town. I’ll meet you there.