Hats Off! Musings of being a Pirate
April, 2001
By Wyatt Newman
It's gone! The Panda is gone!
Drive by the corner of Division and Wellesley and where the Panda once
stood, there is hardly a grease spot left -- just a slab of
concrete. It's as though it were zapped from the face of the
earth by Martian flying saucer ray guns, as seen in the 1950's
thriller, "The War of the Worlds."
Actually, it ceased being the Panda some time ago. Only the
Pirates-in-exile probably notice it being gone, as the Pirates
still residing in Spokane must have taken it in stride. There's
something about going back to the old sod and noticing
"something is missing here." Still, to see the actual
building gone is another reminder that time is passing and some
things will never be the same or can be recaptured except in the
mind.
The Panda was our Mel's Diner. If there were booths inside, who
ever went inside? We would always order from the window,
so we could get back to our precious automobiles. One never went
home after a night on the town without a stop, or at least a
swing by or "tooling around" of the Panda. That
constant teen hunger was assuaged after school with a quick drive down
Wellesley.
It seemed as though you could always run into someone you knew at the
Panda. When Shadle Park was built, Highlanders began to show up,
perhaps invading our territory, but also allowing us to meet new
faces and find out what was going on down the street, on the
Northwest side of town.
Were the burgers that good? Nah, not really. They were cheap and it
seemed as though you could buy as many as you wanted. Pizzas
started to appear in American cuisine around that time. Usually
no better than cardboard with tomato sauce and a few other
nibblies smeared on top, but they were cheap. The milkshakes
were cold and thick. Coke was coke ... what the heck. Being
there was what was important, not the food. Duncan Heinz did not eat
there, nor would he ever have eaten there.
The Panda. To paraphrase one of the songs from our times,
"Goodbye Sweetheart (as in the name of the paper-wrapped straws)
it's sad you had to go."
- Wyatt
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