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Interview With South Boston Resident, Paul Loftus
Aired February 17, 2003 - 13:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, what does a day like this mean for you? What can you do on a day like this that's special?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go out with the dogs. Walk around. Not that many people out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Lots of snow is catching folks by surprise in some parts of this country. People in Massachusetts are used to dealing with the occasional blizzard. As a matter of fact in South Boston, residents have their own way of dealing with the snowy state of affairs.
Pat Loftus says he's a lifetime resident of South Boston. He joins us now by the telephone.
Pat, tell us what's so special about this part of Boston, Sausi (ph) as you call it?
PAT LOFTUS, BOSTON RESIDENT: Kyra, it's great. It's beautiful out here. The snow is coming down. I'm standing up on Rochester Heights (ph). It's the site of George Washington's first victory in the Revolutionary War. And rumor has it it's the site of the first fight over parking spaces after a blizzard. The horses couldn't get near enough to the fire.
PHILLIPS: You're kidding me. So, it started with George Washington, this fighting over a parking place. Well, what happens now when you have a parking situation in weather like this?
LOFTUS: I tell you, it's actually not bad once the weather is here, but once it stops, there's a fight over parking spaces for people that have to go to work. They put chairs, they put horses, they put summer chairs out. Actually, when we were growing up, if the winds started howling, I'd make my brother sit in it until we got it plowed out.
PHILLIPS: All right, so what if you have a chair in your parking spot after you've dug it out, and someone steals it?
LOFTUS: Well, then another Revolutionary War starts, Kyra, you know? That's what happens. Most people work it out. But actually when I was growing up, our next door neighbor just never really took to the rules. And one day he came out in the morning, and a person on the second floor who had shoveled the spot out put his hose out the window in the middle of the blizzard and put a big sheet of ice all over his van. It was beautiful.
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. All right, so but you've got the normal routines of dealing with the weather, right? Don't the snowplows come out and the salt trucks?
LOFTUS: Well, everything comes out. But you know, it's people walking around and having fun. You get to meet the greatest neighbors in the world, and reintroduce yourself to them. Everything stops, and this is the time the arguments really cool off. But it does get crazy out there. They put everything out there. I've seen dishwashers, old dishwashers ready to go, anything that's in the cellar that's ready to go, goes out there to guard a spot.
PHILLIPS: All right, Pat Loftus from South Boston there. I hope you don't lose your parking spot, my friend. I'd hate to duke it out with you.
LOFTUS: Kyra, you're welcome anytime.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Pat.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired February 17, 2003 - 13:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, what does a day like this mean for you? What can you do on a day like this that's special?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go out with the dogs. Walk around. Not that many people out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Lots of snow is catching folks by surprise in some parts of this country. People in Massachusetts are used to dealing with the occasional blizzard. As a matter of fact in South Boston, residents have their own way of dealing with the snowy state of affairs.
Pat Loftus says he's a lifetime resident of South Boston. He joins us now by the telephone.
Pat, tell us what's so special about this part of Boston, Sausi (ph) as you call it?
PAT LOFTUS, BOSTON RESIDENT: Kyra, it's great. It's beautiful out here. The snow is coming down. I'm standing up on Rochester Heights (ph). It's the site of George Washington's first victory in the Revolutionary War. And rumor has it it's the site of the first fight over parking spaces after a blizzard. The horses couldn't get near enough to the fire.
PHILLIPS: You're kidding me. So, it started with George Washington, this fighting over a parking place. Well, what happens now when you have a parking situation in weather like this?
LOFTUS: I tell you, it's actually not bad once the weather is here, but once it stops, there's a fight over parking spaces for people that have to go to work. They put chairs, they put horses, they put summer chairs out. Actually, when we were growing up, if the winds started howling, I'd make my brother sit in it until we got it plowed out.
PHILLIPS: All right, so what if you have a chair in your parking spot after you've dug it out, and someone steals it?
LOFTUS: Well, then another Revolutionary War starts, Kyra, you know? That's what happens. Most people work it out. But actually when I was growing up, our next door neighbor just never really took to the rules. And one day he came out in the morning, and a person on the second floor who had shoveled the spot out put his hose out the window in the middle of the blizzard and put a big sheet of ice all over his van. It was beautiful.
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. All right, so but you've got the normal routines of dealing with the weather, right? Don't the snowplows come out and the salt trucks?
LOFTUS: Well, everything comes out. But you know, it's people walking around and having fun. You get to meet the greatest neighbors in the world, and reintroduce yourself to them. Everything stops, and this is the time the arguments really cool off. But it does get crazy out there. They put everything out there. I've seen dishwashers, old dishwashers ready to go, anything that's in the cellar that's ready to go, goes out there to guard a spot.
PHILLIPS: All right, Pat Loftus from South Boston there. I hope you don't lose your parking spot, my friend. I'd hate to duke it out with you.
LOFTUS: Kyra, you're welcome anytime.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Pat.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
