By
Daly Tongren
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| David Berry, owner of RaspberriesRhythm Cafe and Bar holds up a sign on which he has written one word to describe these days in Flint since the water crisis. |
FLINT, Michigan—On a winter Sunday afternoon here, the snowy
business hub of Saginaw Street appears empty. The cobblestone walkways are nearly
barren, and many local shops and restaurants are closed for the day. As the
dinner hour approaches, only a small number of pedestrians file into local
restaurants.
The restaurants, like all of the
other buildings and homes in Flint, rely heavily on water to get through their
day-to-day services. Since the city’s water
crisis, in which it was determined that lead-poisoned water soon began flowing from the city's water pipes into residents' homes after a switch in the local water source that left the
city reliant on the Flint River, many of these restaurants and businesses have struggled
to keep their doors open.
_______________________
_______________________
“I hear jokes. …I’ve heard
all kinds. I laugh with them.
It’s not a joke, it’s just
to lower the stress level.” —David Berry
_______________________
_______________________
“From a business perspective, it’s
difficult to convince people that we have taken the measures necessary to
provide a product that is safe,” said David Berry, the owner of Raspberries
Rhythm Café & Bar, which is located on Saginaw Street in downtown Flint.
Berry opened the restaurant seven
years ago to follow a dream he had since childhood. Since then, Raspberries has
overcome growing pains and business obstacles, which Berry said gives him hope
that it will withstand the current crisis.
Berry credits the personal relationships he has built with
members of the community for helping the business stay afloat in the past few
months, amid the water crisis. He said that trust is the deciding factor when
people are choosing where to eat their food outside of their own homes.
A plumber by trade, Berry said that
he installed new water filters inside of Raspberries himself—something that he
says makes patrons feel a sort of comfort when dining there.
Despite this personal connection to
the public, Berry said that business still is not what it used to be, before
the water supply was contaminated.
“Our business is probably half of
what it used to be a year ago,” he said. “We’re going to just maintain and hope
the public accepts the fact that we have taken the measures to keep anyone
safe.”
Down the street from Raspberries is
Blackstone’s Pub & Grill, a restaurant that, according to manager Nathan
Lewis, has not suffered quite as much as the staff had anticipated amid the
fallout of the poisoned water.
“Honestly, I don’t really feel like
our business has suffered,” Lewis said. “I feel like it’s kind of picked up a
little bit, just because of all the publicity that Flint’s been getting from
the whole water crisis.”
Lewis says that although business has
not faltered for Blackstone’s, customers do come in asking questions on a
consistent basis. A filtration sign with a promise of clean water hangs on the
front window of the all-brick restaurant. But according to Lewis, customers
still need reassurance that they water they are being served will not harm
them.
One of Blackstone’s regular
customers, Bryan Nichols, is a 26-year-old resident of Flint. He said that while
he has mostly adapted to the conditions that surviving on bottled water has presented
him with, like traveling to a family member’s house outside of city limits to
shower. Still, he said he is cautious overall when it comes to where he spends
his time and eats.
“I come to the same few restaurants,
I just haven’t been to some place new in a while – don’t really want to take
that chance,” he said.
Nichols, like Berry, says that he
holds on to a strong sense of hope that Flint will overcome its current
circumstances and continue to move forward. He says that the city has faced
worse problems in the past, and that progress seems to already be happening in
an effort to fix the poisoned water pipes.
“We’ve been through worse, and it
sucks, but I’m sure we’ll get through it,” Nichols said.
Lynette Peppler also dines at
Blackstone’s. She owns a business of her own, Mr. P’s Wash World, a car wash in
Flint. She said she has struggled to keep it open since her husband’s death,
and that the water crisis has been yet another major obstacle for her to
overcome.
“My business and employees suffered
tremendously,” Peppler said. “I’m a car wash—water is my main ingredient.”
Peppler said her car wash had to
shut down temporarily amid the announcements of contaminated water.
While business owners in Flint,
while mostly holding onto hope, they seemed all to aware of the long road ahead
when it comes to accessing clean water.
“This is going to affect us for
years. Children, the labor market, the school system are all affected - it’s
going to be the new Chernobyl,” Peppler said.
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| Roosevelt Student-journalists interview David Berry as Professor John W. Fountain also captures the moment. |
“I will extend gratitude across the
country. Bottled water has been flowing in from all across the United States,”
Berry said. “I’m happy to know that people have opened their hearts, because
water is not free.”
While the seriousness of the
situation in Flint is apparent, Berry said that he faces humor in his day-to-day
life at Raspberries, which he takes with a grain of salt. “I hear jokes. A lot of people joke
about serious situations to relieve stress, and I’ve heard all kinds,” he said.
“I laugh with them. It’s not a joke, it’s just to lower the stress level. Making
people laugh is our way of doing that. That is how we’ve been able to move
forward.”
RELATED STORY by Daly Tongren: Lessons From Flint
RELATED STORY by Daly Tongren: Lessons From Flint
Email: Dtongren@mail.roosevelt.edu
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| These placards, which can be found across Flint, Michigan, express common sentiments of people who live here. |
