Prelude to a Porgy
Going Fishing with PE & DD Seafood, Union Square Farmers’ Market
June 28, 2006. 4:00 AM, Riverhead, NY.
Wendy’s Deli is still in darkness. If you were to drive by on your own, you’d be certain it’s closed. But Wendy is behind a dimly lit counter in the back of the store making coffee and wrapping rolls.
5:15 AM, A perfect sunrise. Boarding the Brianna with Phil and Wade Karlin who sell their catch at PE & DD Seafood in Union Square, you congratulate yourself on having chosen the perfect day to go fishing.
A sea course is plotted, and the net is lowered. Now several drowsy hours must pass before the net can be hoisted. You begin to relax. Suddenly the sea heaves and with perverse timing the rain starts, slowly for the first haul then torrentially for the second. The rapid-fire job of sorting fish and throwing back the unwanted and undersized specimens becomes Herculean.
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Okay, now I understand what it takes to catch fish. But what does it take to sell them?
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Selling Fish at PE & DD Seafood
October 16, 2006. 6:00 AM, Union Square Farmers’ Market
A cold October morning. As black as squid ink. The streets have a tension as the early risers squeeze by the night crawlers on sidewalks narrowed by mounds of garbage.Nearing Union Square I hear the distinct clatter of metal poles and see waves of white as the farmers assemble their stands.
This is the 5th time I’ve been a Saturday fishmonger. I’m delighted because today Delores lets me make the sign: Flounder $11.00, Grey Sole $15.50, Squid, cleaned $6.50……..(I take it very seriously and hate seeing it get messy as we sell out of different fish.) Customers are straggling into the market. No one wants to get out of bed today. The slow pace makes it hard to warm up. As I stamp my feet and tuck my hands beneath my elbows, Wade watches and says I’m making him cold . He insists on giving me his jacket.
For the next 7 hours I meet the challenge of dealing with the customers. There are so many great people, willing to wait in a very long line for this bounty of fresh fish. Then there is human nature. But no matter how a person behaves, I am determined to be cheerful.
“Not that piece, that one. No, no, I don’t like that either. Can’t you find a nicer one?”
“You’re not digging down to get me a good one. I want a pink one. Yes, but that one has a little brown speck. Right there. Can’t you see it?”
“I want 4 oz exactly. No, that’s 4.5 oz. Cut another one.”
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I’m the first to leave when it gets slow. Exhausted, I emerge into a sea of distracted shoppers. Tonight I will eat porgy.
- Carol Dragon