Is it getting HOT in here? ...or...
If you can't retain a sense of humor in the face of
overwhelming loss, than you're not someone I can relate to. My name is
Luis. Some of you may know me, some may know me well and others may
never have met me, but on Tuesday I was the owner of both Suspect
Videos and today I'm the owner of one Suspect Video and about ten tons
of charred rubble. As most of you know the Queen Street Suspect was one
of the businesses obliterated early Wednesday morning in the six (SIX!)
alarm blaze that destroyed most of that block, but amazingly didn't
result in any serious injuries. For any of you that saw the footage, it
was out of control. Water froze as it hit concrete, or glass, or wood.
Man, those places went up.
I really feel for the people who lost everything in a few short hours:
people who lost their homes and their jobs, people who lost labours of
love and hard work, and people who have lost artifacts, many of them
irreplaceable.
Since that morning I've been immersed in calling, calling and emailing.
Friends, suppliers, utilities, alarm companies, phone companies,
insurance, etc, etc, etc. And then there is the news media. Answering
questions, speculating, waxing philosophic.. there's gotta be a German
word for the dissection and multi-angled viewing of the aftermath of a
catastrophe (if there is, email us).. but I, and everyone at Suspect
have been overwhelmed with the reaction to the loss of our little
dusty/dirty emporium of weird, gross, disturbing, sexy, not-so-sexy,
awfully beautiful movies, toys, books and miscellaneous
ephemera.
Thank you to all.
I wish I could tell you with certainty what the
next step is, but I can't. So much of what was there was difficult to
get the first time around and a second time may take a while.
Hopefully we can arrange a wake sometime in the next few weeks with a
bar or restaurant in the area. When we do we'll post it up here.
Thanks again to all who set steps into our place, who embraced it, and
who helped to make it what it was.
(In some ways the crappiest thing is I can't even go inside, survey the
damage and think: fuck.. this is sooo weird..)
If anyone would like to have a discussion forum to communicate with each other or us, our good bud Jim has set one up at:
http://apps.shopatsuspect.com/Forum/
best wishes to everyone.
- slightly updated.