on sunday i was at the chevron @ hollis and powell getting a beer. it is the closest place to get beers.
there were all these cute "punks" in there buying snacks.
they seemed more of the mall punk variety, since some of them were talking to the emeryville policeman that was hanging out there in a non-ironic and pleasant manner.
it was kinda sweet to see and it warmed my heart just slightly.
i started reading the kid's shirt in line in front of me.
it was bright red and went well with his 2 studded leather collars, shaved head, chain wallet and black 3/4 lengths shorts and reeboks.
his shirt said:
Homelessness is not an isolated event.
Homelessness is the result of child abuse.
Homelessness is the result of domestic violence.
Homelessness is the result of untreated mental illness.
Homelessness is the result of untreated addiction.
Homelessness is the result of Veterans being discarded.
Homelessness is the result of layoffs.
Homelessness is the result of catastrophic medical bills.
Homelessness is the result of
COMPULSIVE WEALTH ACCUMULATION DISORDER.
Okay then.
i like that concept, its a good way to express american's overwhelming need to buy and consume to feel good about themselves.
and yeah, homelessness is caused by those things. but also one other that i can think of.
LAZINESS!!! hello!? have you ever noticed how much homeless people just basically sit around? when is the last time you saw one exercising or cutting their nails or, you know, picking up trash or something?
i did see one piss in the street in front of arinell's when i was having a slice last week. he did it right in front of me and looked at me while he was doing it.
then he started rambling incoherently about being mad. they do that. its true.
anyways,
i was actually just about to tell the pimply bespectacled kid in chevron that i liked his shirt when i looked down and saw what he was buying.
i kid you not folks:
spicier nacho doritos (TM), snyders of hanover pretzel bites, beer nuts (TM), and a sobe (TM) green tea.
what? no. i'm lost. so you're like, anti-corporate greed and pro-homeless and stuff, and you're buying some of the most heavily marketed, nutritionally devoid snacks in existence?
so it turns out the shirt is for a band called fifteen, which is the dude from crimpshrine, remember them? they are like, political and stuff. a bay area hardcore band from the 80's. i remember the kids that liked them when i lived in houston,
they had dirty everything and drank lots of soda and went dumpster diving a lot. they did things like 'bagel' people's yards and go to food not bombs things and eat the free food even though they still lived with their parents.
bageling is when you steal all the old bagels out of the dumpster and leave them all over the lawn of someone you don't like. actually, i guess thats kinda funny. anyways again,
this kid is cleaner than that. maybe he just thinks that fifteen rocks and that the red accessorizes well with his (presumably) mostly black wardrobe.
now, if this entry can get any more interesting, just the night before, i accompanied my friend as she fed her neighbor's rat and turtle in a house inhabited by what many in my circles would refer to as "crusty punks".
the room with the animals reeked to high heaven of rancid diapers and rotting broccoli (seriously, this room smelled worse than anything i have ever smelled, like a carpet that several people were killed on 50 years ago that someone just dumped a bunch of 'carpet fresh' on and then shut the door)
we were trying to imagine what the guy is going to do when gets home from vacation and opens the door, "aaah, home sweet home..."
the rest of the house had more of a generic stale house where the windows are never opened smell, and yet it was still surprisingly tidy.
the thing that got me here was another unusual juxtaposition.
anti-corporate, and specifically anti-bush propaganda all over the house. crazy goth, necromancer, gross out posters and sculptures and just generally weird subversive shit is everywhere.
yet sitting on the 'entertainment center' is Grand Theft Auto 3 with a little sheet of paper slipped in the cover listing all the cheat codes.
am i crazy here?
what am i missing? what are they missing?
i suppose it is too much to ask for the kids to practice what they preach?
to open their minds all the way instead of just enough to go around talking about homeless people being oppressed by corporations and the government while munching on doritos and playing x-box? well, i guess so.
also, that rat is the fattest one i have ever seen. when it got it's food, it went STRAIGHT FOR THE CARBS.
ajax, this one's for you,
gg
Posted by goldengram at July 20, 2004 10:49 AM