Street Stories

Weblog of Seattle minister to the homeless Rick Reynolds, Operation Nightwatch

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Location: Seattle, Washington, United States

Caring for human beings seems like the best use of my time, homeless or not.

Monday, November 18, 2019

Ruby Label - Rest in Peace

The earth spins around. Sunrise. Sunset. We build. We tear down. We build, and tear down again.

The Skid Road of the 1960s is barely discernible any more. The Skid Road Community Council is gone. The First Avenue Service Center is gone. Eskimo Sam gave way to Gooey Duck Frank to another guy who's name has not yet become memorable.

Our civic memory is short-lived. Not many people remember Ruby Label - a fixture at his pawn shop on First Avenue. There is a clip from a movie about Nightwatch that was filmed in 1970. It shows Ruby Label sitting with one of the Skid Road denizens of that time. He says something like "This is Robert. He's a human being!" and every time I see that clip I tear up.

Ruby Label (Reuben Label) 1918 - 2014 עליו השלום.


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