Monday, March 06, 2006

I remember spending a day with two people who were more punk rock than I'd ever be....

It was a sunny Vancouver day, and there was an outdoor music festival at Stanley Park. I arrived and saw a couple I'd met a few days earlier on a blanket in a good spot, and they called me over. They had been there for awhile already, and were quite drunk. They offered me the vodka bottle, very generous of them, I thought! We were being loud and belligerent, but so was everybody. It didn't seem like we were sticking out too much. At one point, the guy picked up an empty jar and threw up into it...I was struck by how casually he did this. Then I was struck by how clear the liquid was. And then he shrugged and said, "No point in wasting good booze!" and proceeded to drink...well...you know. The stuff in the jar. I had never seen anything so punk rock in my whole life!

His girlfriend just hit him, then grabbed my hand. "Come on, I gotta go to the bathroom." We stumbled our way through the crowds towards the Women's Washroom. There was a huge line snaking out of the door and around the corner. "Forget this, let's use the Guy's can," she said as she pulled me along. We burst through the door, and I remember all the surprised faces of the men at their business. "Don't mind us! There's a line-up a mile long over at the girl's can..." She was so confident!! Holy cow! I pretended to swagger along with her, but I was actually embarrassed.

There have been times in my life where I have experienced that strange feeling of attraction and repulsion mixing like oil and vinegar, like a lava lamp. This was one of those times. The whole memory is so surreal, like a scene out of "Sid and Nancy"... I didn't see that couple much after that. They kind of faded out of my realm of reality, but they reign in my mind as the punk rock King and Queen. I never quite managed to attain that level of separation from my morals, no matter how hard I tried.

8 comments:

Spoke said...

"Separation from morals"...I envied bikers,hitmen,dealers,collectors...anyone that did whatever, whenever, to anyone, to get their own needs met. I was going in that direction too.
I so wanted to not give a rip about humans. "I don't care, kill 'em". Outlaw motorbike clubs held a special facination.
Funny really, Jesus says "we must die to ourselves"...the Satanic Bible says "live for self".
Praise God I never got "in".
Thanx for the clue PJ.

Anonymous said...

Wow... that IS pretty hardcore. Once when I was a kid I thought about skipping Sunday School, but then I didn't. That's me being hardcore.

Anonymous said...

I skipped sunday school once when I was a kid, and got into SO much trouble. I don't think my parents would let me have that "I don't care about anything" attitude. But there IS this annoying attraction to people that just 'don't care'. I think it's the confidence thing, but i have to wonder if it's really confidence or a deception of confidence? Do they really not care? Or have they been hurt so many times they WANT to not care? Am I psychologist, or do I just WANT to be a psychologist? ANyways, crazy story, hope you enjoyed your day.

No Longer Here - see My Own Lamp Post said...

Do you think maybe there's a certain cell in the brain most people posess, but some seemed to have puked it out somewhere along the way? Don't get me wrong, if I had known there was something other that 'head banger' I would've been a punk rocker. Go Depeche!
I remember skipping Pioneer Girls once when I was 12 with my two best buds, we were so sneaky - each 'going to the bathroom' and when we were standing outside the church squealing about how we got away with it, Linda Klassen came out - Busted - and told us that we could leave when we wanted, we didn't have to sneak out, and even though that's not the worst I've done, bar none (or bar being many of them), that one just always sticks in my mind. hee hee. Sorry Linda!

Spoke said...

You know, if I took Christ out of my daily existence, I'd be one dangerous person. My moral code is so perverted and fleeting, I even scare my self with the odd thought...

Born to be Transformed said...

glad you failed. In this case, your failure to seperate yourself from your morals sounds more like a success story.

Praise Jesus!

He would have forgiven you even if you had succeeded for a while.

Paula said...

I guess that is my point...

...and the places where my morals slipped, he DID forgive me! Whew...

*wipes brow in relief*

anywherebutTX said...

I had this boyfriend in highschool named Rick.... Rick was so "dirty punk" that I thought he was the coolest thing that God ever made. He had a blue mohawk and took me to parties where they played Exploited and you didn't sit on the furniture for fear of getting scabies from the squatters that lived there. This was soooo cool for a boring, middle class american girl like myself.... Needless to say, the relationship didn't last very long.