Madras Shorts: “What the Fuck is This?” (1984

Going Up to Meet the Family MADRAS SHORTS: “WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?” (1984)

AMOS POE We were just married, so we planned to drive up to Kill-A-Jew-Port, Maine on a Friday afternoon. I was going up there to meet the whole family. It would be the first time. We were living downtown on Great Jones Street and I was working on a music video in midtown. I told Sarah that I would come back downtown to pack early in the afternoon, and then we were gonna drive up. Sarah called around noon and asked, “How’s it going?” I told her that the editing was taking a long time and I still had to come down to pack. Sarah said, “I’ll pack for you and drive up to meet you. I’ll call from the corner and you can just come down.” At 3:30 or 4:00, she called. “I’m on the corner, come down.” I wrapped up what I was doing, came downstairs, got in the car, and we started driving. We got to Maine really late; I think we got there at midnight. We were in the same room but in twin beds.

The next morning, I woke up and went downstairs for a cup of coffee. I had on this house robe that Sarah brought me. Then I went back upstairs to get dressed. I opened the bag and I’m like—“Ah, Honey—where’s my clothes?” And she says, “That’s your clothes.” It’s madras shorts, striped button-down shirts, moccasins, and white socks with stripes on them. “These are not my clothes! What the fuck is this?” “Oh, no, it’s okay. They are all your size. I did a little shopping at Brooks Brothers. You want to fit in.”

I do not wear madras shorts. I do not wear socks with stripes. I felt like I was in WASP drag. And she said, “No, no, you look great. You’ll get used to it.” “I’ll wear it for you ’cuz it’s your family, but when we drive back and go over the bridge, this all goes in the river.” “No,” she said. “We’ll keep it up here.”

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Back when we first had cordless phones, not cell phones, we put one in on Long Island. Amos was always talking on this cordless phone in the kitchen, and he’d walk out on the deck as he was talking. And Sarah would always say, “That’s how Amos pictures himself. You know, connected, making deals.” MEL KENDRICK

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