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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2001)
PEOPLE or someone who’s only 23, Gabby Hendel wields a great deal of power. With the flick of her wrist, she can stop traffic and bring the city to a screeching halt—literally. You see, Hendel works for Multnomah County as a bridge operator. That means she spends hours perched atop Hawthorne, Morri son, Bumside and Broadway, letting boats through and pissing off impatient drivers. Meanwhile, she gets to kick back and catch up on her reading, writing and paint ing. The booths also are equipped with a television and VCR to keep operators from getting too bored. Hendel’s mellow demeanor probably comes from the 13 years she spent in Hawaii. Her family bought an ice company and moved there when she was 5. “I grew up in the rain forest,” she says. “I didn’t wear shoes until I went to high school.” A full academic scholarship brought her to University of Oregon. As is the case for most Pacific Northwest transplants, the weather required some get ting used to; howev er, the most difficult adjustment for Hen del was the frenzied stress levels of the mainland. “I think anytime you move eastward, there’s a quickening of the pace,” she says. "It was kind of hard.” Even though she was surrounded by Eugene liberals and F Hendel graduated in March with a degree in psychology and women’s studies—“which means nothing, unless I get a master’s.” Her future might include social work, massage school or travel through Europe and North Africa. Hendel, who lives in Southeast Portland with Hedi, her partner of 2 1/2 years, still makes it back to Hawaii a couple of times a year. However, she says it just isn’t the same anymore. “I’m just so overwhelmed by how assimilat ed the culture is into Western ideals,” she says. “There are small businesses going under every single day.” In fact, corporate giant Costco forced her parents to close shop. Her dad eventually found work in Gresham, so now almost every member of the family has made the transition from Hawaiian to Oregonian. For the time being, Hendel’s biggest adjust ment is getting used to being on call for work 24 hours a day. At least she has occasional crazy encounters to keep things interesting. “1 hear so many stories from other people. There was a jumper on the Bumside,” she says, adding an interesting tidbit about the relatively low bridge, “but really, if they jumped they wouldn’t die.” For all of her expertise, though, Hendel had to learn the hard way about the dangers of crossing the mighty Willamette. “1 was skateboarding across the Hawtheme, and I hit a crack and fell flat on my face and skinned my knee.” But that wasn’t the worst part—while she writhed in pain, she watched as her skateboard slowly rolled into the river. She jokes, “It was like the saddest day of my life.” JH Gabby Hendel watches over Morrison Bridge during one of her shifts Lesbian bridge operator’s job has its ups and downs * by J im R aixjsta had a failed fling with a sorority girl, Hendel didn’t get involved in any queer groups dur ing her first couple of years on campus. The people she met during a rape awareness march changed all that. “All of a sudden I had a handful of friends who really understood me,” she says. “I didn’t realize there were other people like me." Before long, Hendel was serving as co-direc tor of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance and organizing Lesbopalooza, an annual music festival that just keeps growing and growing. When the event started in 2000, eight bands were booked for a one-day show; this year, it added an extra day along with per formance artists, an all-lesbian crew of fire dancers, workshops—even a Tupperware party thrown by folk singer Phranc. >: •• s JlOlOIX All Summer Long-7 bays a Week Live Music 5 Nights a Week Breakfast Sat <& Sun 8am-3pm Banquets 4 Catering for all of your summer events B illy R ee ^ s R estaurant t, B ar ■ Restaurant ▼ Retail Join the Blend ■ •. eclectic food, wine, & furnishings 4100 S.E. Division ▼ 233'6950 HOMEMADE MEXICAN FOOD/G RE AT VEGETARIAN DISHES DAILY LUNCH SPECIALS • FULL SERVICE BAR • ICE COLD MICROBREWS BULL RING NW .. dragonfly RESTAURANT ■ From comfort food to world cuisine 4b HMM) NW 27th at Vaughn • (503) 274-4096 Open www.bullring.citysearch.com Taes-Frt 11am non-smoking establishment Join Us for Happy Hour from 4:30pm to 6:30pm Sat ft Son 4pm Closed Monday pacific asían cuisine join us on our patio lunch monday - friday dinner monday - Saturday 1411 ne broadway (503) 288-3960 John Street CAFE Where the art of cooking is practiced. 8338 N. LOMBARD (503) 247-1066 All Roads Lead to • • • 2716 Martin Luther King Blvd Portland, OR 97212 CAFE & CATERING 503 288-4169 WE DO CATERING
