'A Beer Thief, A Few Overdoses, And A Glorified Waiter.' 
My Father Was A Successful Restaurateur In The Seventies And Eighties. During The Late Seventies He Was 'Recommended' By Two Business Associates To Become A Freemason. Exited, My Father Accepted.
Remember Him Dressing Up In His 'Ruffled' Penguin Outfit With The Cross Over Silk Band, Carrying His Black Leather Freemason Attache Under His Arm, Going Out To 'Gatherings' As He Referred To Freemason Meetings. I Was Young... To Me He Looked Like A Glorified Waiter.
Back In The Seventies Many Restaurants Had Unisex Restrooms. The Stalls Were Separated By A Thin Plywood Wall, And Like In 'The Movies' One Could See The Person's Feet. There Where Small Holes Cut With A Knife In The Stall Dividers, And One Could See In To The Next Stall.
Small Holes, But Big Enough To See Thru If You Put Your Head Close Enough. What I Witnessed From An Early Age Was Addicts Heat The Spoon, Dip The Needle, And Shoot Up Heroin.
Once I Saw My Mother Chase A Junkie Down The Backstairs Of The Restaurant And Down The Street In Heels And Fur. The Junkie Had Taken Off With Two Cases Of Beer From A Delivery Earlier In The Morning.
I Ran Down After My Mother, Saw Her Hit The Junkie In The Head Several Times With Her Purse, Before He Stumbled, Dropped The Beer, And Disappeared Down In To The Subway Underground.
There Were Several Overdoses In The Restaurant Restrooms. Sometimes I Would Find Them, Other Times Guests Would Find Them, Often With Their Legs Sticking Out From Underneath The Stall.
Not A Very Positive Sight For A Young Person To See. Still Have Some Of Those Images Burnt Onto My Retina, Particularly Ambulance Personnel Attempting To Revive Junkies Laying On The White Tiled Floor In Front Of The Stalls.
Back To The Freemasons. My Father Thought They Were A Group Of Successful Business Leaders, Bankers, Politicians, Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers, Judges And Other High Profiles He Could Benefit From Being In A Network With. In The Beginning, My Father Believed They Believed In God.
As The Years Passed My Father Would Rise In 'Degrees' As A Freemason. He Was Very Fond Of Alcohol Up Until He Quit One Day In The Late Eighties.
Sometimes When He'd Have A Few Too Many, He'd Tell Us Stories About The Sick Rituals Associated With Rising In Degrees.
Sometimes When He'd Have A Few Too Many, He'd Tell Us Stories About The Sick Rituals Associated With Rising In Degrees.
My Father Truly Believed In God. Still Do. As He Realized Early On The Freemasons Were Luciferians, He Had This Terrible Inner Struggle That Severely Pained Him.
[They] Represented The 'Other' Side. My Father Eventually Needed To Get Out. But, How? One Can't Just Leave The Freemasons. That Is Simply Not How It Works.
[They] Will Find You.
(To Be Continued.)
[They] Will Find You.
(To Be Continued.)
