Gloomy Sunday: Discovering the Silver Lining on a Grey Afternoon

Some days in Fort Lee are better than others. When I headed into town last Sunday, rain was pouring down and leaking through the roof of the bus onto my head; after disembarking I had not walked three steps before my sneakers and jeans were soaked through, despite an umbrella. And it was so cold—here we are in March now, which is supposed to be Spring.

Melancholy can overpower you on a day like that, and as I walked around, wet, I let myself be sad over the demise of the Borders on Main Street. After it closes, where are people going to buy their books? I don’t know offhand of another bookstore in town that can serve the community (if you can point me to one, please email me!), and that is a shame. There are other businesses in the heart of Fort Lee that have gone under since I started to come here a few months ago—Benetton is another standout, and I’ve wondered for a while about , the bar/club on Lemoine Ave. next to the diner. This is, of course, happening all over the country in today’s shaky economy, but the fact that other cities and towns are experiencing a downturn too is cold comfort. It’s never nice to see.

Something that actually is comforting on a rainy day, or when a bad mood threatens to take hold, is food. So I decided to turn my collar into the wind and search for a hot meal… but, just my luck, the Japanese restaurant I had wanted to eat at was closed for the gap between lunch and dinner. A simpler Korean barbecue place, which looked appealing from the street for its simplicity and casual vibe, was closed also. Thoroughly downhearted and very cold and wet, I finally found respite at , the Vietnamese restaurant.

I am happy to announce that the moment I stepped inside I began to feel better, and not just because rain was no longer buffeting me from every direction. In the quiet restaurant, over a steaming bowl of pork rib soup into which I dropped lemon juice and fresh jalapenos, I started to recall all the things I love about Fort Lee; all the pleasant, solitary experiences I’ve enjoyed here that I find hard to describe eloquently, preferring to think of them as “nice times.” There is great food from many different countries: I have eaten Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Italian and Greek, and I know there are lots more. Just sitting in a café with a notebook here is a completely different experience than in New York or Jersey City or Hoboken—it’s peaceful on another level, so close to the George Washington Bridge and proud of it, but posing such a contrast to the city’s constant hustle and bustle. Best of all, my interactions with Fort Lee’s people have been friendly and informative, without exception. As I ate my soup a young family came in and sat down, the father explaining to the kids what they might like this time, in a way that made it clear that they’d been there together on Sundays past.