Surreal Moment of the Year
I got interested in punk rock when I was 15, which was quite some time ago. At that point, punk had only been in existence for about ten years. I've always liked to observe people at punk shows. I've seen demographics change, sub-scenes form, expand, contract, etc. Ever since I've been involved, it's been clear to me that there are a lot of branches on this tree. At one time, it wasn't a stretch for me to think of the long-haired guy in the Misfits shirt, the guy with the shaved head and bomber jacket, the guy with the mohawk, etc etc to be part of the same extended family... even when this didn't seem true in day to day life.
The "squeegee" branch of the tree is something I wasn't exposed to until later. I don't know much about it even today. Whatever cultural gaps I've felt with any of the other above groups seem small by comparison. Not in a negative way; I don't judge someone just because they live differently for me. But there are some life experiences I just can't identify with, homelessness being one of them. I was raised in relative comfort in suburbia and have never been unemployed. This is all I've ever known.
I'd like to think I'm without prejudices and can be friends with anyone. But experience has taught me that vast cultural differences can make that tough, however good your intentions. For example: I could see difficulty becoming close friends with, say, a born-again evangelical christian. Not to say it couldn't be done, but having spent time around people from that culture I've found myself thinking "ooooh kaaaay.... not much I can say to that". Feeling like I'm not in Kansas anymore, and am in serious need of a map. Is it wrong to feel this way? I dunno.
So today I took my car to work because I needed to bring home some boxes. Normally I walk. I'm waiting at a light, and a punk guy offers to squeegee my car. I say no thanks; the car's fairly clean. I remember driving in Montreal one winter without windshield wash and all I could think of was "where are all the squeegee punks??". Squeegeeing had apparently been banned by the city. My point is, this is a useful, legitimate practice. So I didn't say no just to be an ass.
As the guy walked away, I thought about "punk" and how much of my life I've spent being in bands, playing this music on the radio, etc... yet how totally removed I felt from this person, who seemed to be living such a different life from my own.
He walked back past my car and I saw something that put everything in perspective and threw everything out of perspective at the same time.
The guy was wearing a backpatch of my old band.
The "squeegee" branch of the tree is something I wasn't exposed to until later. I don't know much about it even today. Whatever cultural gaps I've felt with any of the other above groups seem small by comparison. Not in a negative way; I don't judge someone just because they live differently for me. But there are some life experiences I just can't identify with, homelessness being one of them. I was raised in relative comfort in suburbia and have never been unemployed. This is all I've ever known.
I'd like to think I'm without prejudices and can be friends with anyone. But experience has taught me that vast cultural differences can make that tough, however good your intentions. For example: I could see difficulty becoming close friends with, say, a born-again evangelical christian. Not to say it couldn't be done, but having spent time around people from that culture I've found myself thinking "ooooh kaaaay.... not much I can say to that". Feeling like I'm not in Kansas anymore, and am in serious need of a map. Is it wrong to feel this way? I dunno.
So today I took my car to work because I needed to bring home some boxes. Normally I walk. I'm waiting at a light, and a punk guy offers to squeegee my car. I say no thanks; the car's fairly clean. I remember driving in Montreal one winter without windshield wash and all I could think of was "where are all the squeegee punks??". Squeegeeing had apparently been banned by the city. My point is, this is a useful, legitimate practice. So I didn't say no just to be an ass.
As the guy walked away, I thought about "punk" and how much of my life I've spent being in bands, playing this music on the radio, etc... yet how totally removed I felt from this person, who seemed to be living such a different life from my own.
He walked back past my car and I saw something that put everything in perspective and threw everything out of perspective at the same time.
The guy was wearing a backpatch of my old band.
posted by the baron ash von foolishness at 4:51 PM
1 Comments:
Awesome story.
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