Rabble Rousers

for those who haven't read up on the four turnings thing it's a theory about generational differences and how they shape and are shaped by society and the different phases it goes through. There's four generation "styles" and each is ruled by a certain archetype. Well as GenX we're supposed to be the Nomads. Highly adaptive type of people who are supposed to be best ones to live through the crash and re-emergence of a new societial order (the last nomad generation were the ones who lived through WW1 and the stock market crash of the 30's.)

Anyways... lately I've been noticing more and more how there's is this nomadic homeless culture of GenXers around, all around my age. Being me I can easily be mistaken for homeless when walking around, and to be quite honest I probably would be were it not for my rich parents letting me be a bum in their house.

The thing is that there's a really good aura between "us" and a sort of "all of us are in this together" feel that comes across when I talk to people like this. For instance a few weeks ago I was out of smokes and money so I was walking around the Safeway cruising ash trays for big butts. This guy from the shadows yells out "you need a smoke man?" and I was like "sure". "you know how to roll your own?" "Yup, that's one skill I've deffinately got :)"

So we get to talking, he of course assuming I'm homeless like him. He's a good guy... lets me roll up three or four smokes out of his little pouch of tobacco and he lets me know, "It's cool... I've raided ashtrays a million times :)" He starts telling about his favorite places to go looking for them, the nightclub across the street... these other stip-malls. I let him know my favorite spots... the ashtrays by the AA meeting place... the back alley by this other strip mall. He tells me the best places to sleep... on the rooftops over by those office buildings, cops can't harrass you up there and he's even got a little shaded area set up with an old blanket as a tarp. I felt a good connection with this guy. Like I said above, it was like we were in this together... we'd both experieced the same things generationalwise. We both expected this world we're living in to crash down around us and were prepared in a sense. We didn't need society as it is... we didn't need money for smokes... money for apartments... we didn't need a roof over our heads or a place to call home besides where we were right then and there. We were in a very real sense nomads. And it was a good feeling... We belonged to something bigger.

What made me think of this was just now as I was out at the same store again, this time buying some smokes instead of foraging them. There were these two girls sitting out in front of the store, one of them in a wheel chair. Her friend was checking out the sky and there was that connection again. Out of all the people coming out of the store she talked to me, I guess because I look like her kind of people. "Do you think it's going to rain?" she asks. I tell her "nah... I doubt it, I didn't see any clouds or nothing looking like they were waiting to move in once the sun went down." "Well I just saw some lightening. Two of them!" "Hmmm I wouldn't worry about it, but if you need some shelter there's a good spot over by the AA meeting place, it's covered and kind of recessed so the cops can't see you if they pass by" "really? cool. We'll deffinately head over there because I'm just not trusting these lightening bolts."

It was a good feeling... a connection. Even though I have a nice air conditioned house, with a pool, and parents I can occasionally bum smoke money off of, I'm the same as these people. When/if things finally fall down we'll be able to survive. We know a different world, an American third world if you will. And we don't just survive, we thrive in it. In a world of people complaining about falling morals, drug addicts and homeless problems, people not careing for eachother anymore... We're all family.

"You got a smoke?" I take out five and give her the rest of the pack. "Wow, are you sure?" "Yeah I'm sure. What comes around goes around, ya know?" and I leave with a smile and warm feeling in my heart.

 


-- Edited by Bionicgoat at 06:10, 2007-08-22

-- Edited by Bionicgoat at 09:14, 2007-08-22