Keeping it Real…

When I heard of the death of Oscar Peterson, it brought back memories …of Sweeney.

Who?   Sweeney: he was Oscar Peterson’s brother-inlaw and when I was a teenager growing up in Montreal, Sweeney had a major impact in helping me form my view of the real world.

     Sweeney .. I never knew his full name… ran the corner snack bar/neighborhood restaurant in N.D.G (Notre Dame de Grace ..a west side neighborhood) on Monkland Ave (at Royal), a block from my home on Terrebonne Ave ..one of those cheap lunch, burger and shake places,  frequented by workers from nearby commercial businesses, stores …  and students … loads of students.

    Sweeney was not the original owner of the place: it had been owned/operated for years by a Greek family (quite common in Montreal as restauranteurs in those days). I don’t ever recall the place being renovated, or even freshly painted when they had it, and cleanliness didn’t exactly scream out from its old, deterioratred decor; in fact, locals often called it “Greasies” ..partly because of what the place/food looked/smelled like and partly because of the ethnicity of the owners. Sounds terrible today, but that is the truth of how life was back then.  And the place WAS extremely succesful and popular, especially with students.

     And there were a lot of students: from Willingdon Elementary and West Hill Secendary two blocks away, and from Lower Canada College, an upscale elite private school right around the corner ..where the kids were clearly upper class, we thought, because they always wore slacks and often even blazers! LOL.  Something the rest of the neighborhood kids only did on very special occasions. And they were also the big spenders .. with lots more cash in their pockets than the rest of us.

     “Greasies” did VERY well,  judging by how crowded it always was, not only at lunch, but after school as well.

     And then Sweeney took over.  He repaired the old shabby counter and stools; cleaned and painted the place in bright bold colours  ..  it shined!! 

     But there was one colour Sweeney couldn’t change: he was black …  very black, a big dark black face, beaming around bright white teeth (recollections of a thirteen year old!). And soon after Sweeney took over, the kids from Lower Canada College stopped coming.

      A friend and I used to enjoy sitting with Sweeney and talking in the quiet of the evening, while we nursed a shake or Coke … and I felt his hurt. A former cook on Canadian Pacific train dining cars, Sweeney had poured much (if not all?) his life savings into this restaurant; and he suffered, when all the kids from LCC stopped coming … rumour had it school officials had suddenly BANNED the place …ostensibly for ”cleanliness” problems.  But I had heard many kids talk about the fact that Sweeney was black, and for some reason, it seemed to be most on the minds ..and lips …of the little LCC elitists-in-training. Whatever the reason: they suddenly started staying away. 

    It was a travesty .. I had never seen the place so clean, so welcoming. But eventually Sweeney had to sell.

    The new owners were once again of Greek background and, more importantly, white: and the kids from LCC and the others came back.

    Life in NDG was normal again. But I never forgot Sweeney …  Oscar Peterson taught the world about music; Sweeney taught me about the world.