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Stewart
couldn't face the damage
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After just
reopening last Thursday following two months of hurricane repairs,
The Bean in Oriental closed again Monday morning when Bean proprietor
Russ Stewart noticed a scratch on the new pine floor. "Clearly
someone was grinding with their chair, disrespecting the facility"
Stewart says, "and after all the varnishing I've done,
nobody is gonna disrespect the facility."
At 7:06am
Monday Stewart asked the early morning customers to leave. They
slowly made their way out, stunned by the latest Bean closing.
Stewart would not allow anyone even to leave with coffee - confiscating
the still mostly full cups.
| 
Bean
customer Charlie Garrett went outside, but remained on
the porch, fuming. It is believed that Garrett may have
been the chair grinder.
|
The tension
in the village from the Bean being closed for two months following
Hurricane Isabel was in the air, and this latest development
was too much even for normally peaceful village residents.
| 
Garrett
became the ring leader - instigating caffeine-deprived
villagers to riot.
|
Bean regulars
grabbed any available implement to attack the closed facility.
The rioting was much more violent than typically seen in Pamlico
County.
| 
Ken
Brandon retrieved a pecan picker from his van and gave
the closed coffee house a good thrashing.
|
Jane Tindall
and two unidentified women showed their support by trying to
throw a crab pot through a window. However, they were unable
to throw the bulky crab pot high enough.
In one of the more creative assaults Earl Evans took a whisker
pole off a visiting yacht, and along with Bruce Goodman and
Andy Polo used the pole as a medieval battering ram in a spirited
attack on the Bean front door.
Meanwhile, Bob Andrews found an untied kayak to storm the building
with. While Andrews made an impressive charge, he was unable
to turn the corner of the handicapped ramp while still holding
the 15' craft.
| 
|
Before
long workers poured out from Fulchers Seafood and the Oriental
Marina, joining in looting The Bean. At least one looter was
seen with a muffin of suspicious origin.
Stewart was inside the whole time, pleading that it would only
take "two weeks" to fix the floor scratch. This did
not dissuade the attackers, and Stewart managed to get a 911
call to the Oriental Police Department. Their response was swift.
Officer
Jim Bunn asked the crowd to back away from The Bean, but Garrett
kept the attacks underway - keeping morale up by shouting "they're
not allowed to have real bullets - just like on Andy Griffith!"
That was
too much for Bunn - and he sent his men in.
| 
Outfitted
mostly in white and red foul weather gear, the rioters
were easy to identify for Oriental Riot Squad Police.
|
The squad
made quick work of the rioters, and Bunn brought 47 of the "worst
offenders" down to Town Hall. There Town Manager Wyatt
Cutler gave the group a stern warning, saying he was "very
disappointed in their behavior." He sentenced the offenders
to drinking a full 16 oz glass of room temperature unfiltered
Oriental tap water.
| 
The
ruffians gave The Bean a beating - notice the missing
trim above the door. Stewart couldn't look.
|
Russ Stewart
says "now the floor is really scratched, and there is a
lot of loose trim." In addition, an estimated three cups
of coffee and two bagels were unaccounted for.
Despite
the horrific setback, Stewart says the Bean will reopen by June
2004. He plans to employ the same retired minister used last
time to accelerate the repairs.
