Back In the Day
Back in the day we used to drink jolt to get our kicks. Kids brought guns and knives to school, but not cell phones. There was 1 pay phone at the school for all the kids to share and it cost 10 cents for unlimited local calls. We listened to our music on yellow sony walkmans that played tapes and had am/fm radio. We could not buy cigarettes from a cashier, but we could walk into any local bar or restaurant and buy a pack for $2 from a machine. Not to mention that you could smoke EVERYWHERE... hospitals, airplanes, malls and stores, schools, etc.
For fun we used to throw rocks at cars, did graffiti, drugs, sex, stealing and whatever the fuck we felt like. We made mix tapes to show our love. Style was important to us, whether it was Z Cavaricci's, LA Gear sneakers, Air Jordans, Bum Equipment, Chicago Bulls caps, overalls with one strap down, Harvard sweatshirts, Co-ed Naked T-Shirts, MC Hammer pants, layered socks, tight rolled jeans, flannel shirts, baby doll dresses, drug rugs, vintage t-shirts, army clothes, Doc Martins, Chuck Taylors, dyed hair, shaved heads, dreads, goatees, trenchcoats, dark rimmed glasses, mohawks, baggy jeans, etc etc etceterfuckin era.
We used to sit out on our porches or roofs or fire escapes and smoke cigarettes and weed and drink wine coolers and warm Budwiser from a can. We made fun of eachother, we beat eachother up, we had gangs and cliques and stereotypes and rape.
We broke into buildings and got high in boiler rooms. We played strip poker and told lies and played make believe and cried. We contacted spirits on Ouija Boards and babysat our neighbors. We cut ourselves with sharp objects and overreacted to everything. We disrespected our parents and loved them at the same time. We listened to rock and rap and shitty catchy pop songs that we dedicated to our girlfriends and boyfriends over the radio with code names.
We called party lines and had phone sex and pretended we were older than we were. We watched things on TV and movies that we didn't fully understand. We had our own slang. After saying something sarcastic, we would say "NOT!" really loud and laugh. We were born the same year as hip hop.
We knew about wars going on in other countries and knew we should care, but we didn't. We lied to our parents to keep from getting in trouble. We thought about suicide and knew kids who died from it as well as cancer, car accidents, motorcycle accidents, drowning and even murder. We saw our own families fight, divorce, go to jail, get addicted to drugs, die or suffer from mental illness. We kept going as if none of it were real.
There were gay kids, but in a school of 1000, it would be surprising to find even 1 who was "out" by choice. There were no gay straight alliances.
Being bad felt good, but there were good kids too. Kids who did what they were told, studied, did sports and activities and worked hard. And even they felt full of emptiness, pain, guilt and anger.
What i'm saying is that i was a kid once. I was a teenager. Now i'm 30 years old and realize that much of my experience as a kid has influenced who i am as an adult... but not necessarily how anyone ever expected. Things change from generation to generation, but nothing changes at the same time. Life is weird like that.
For fun we used to throw rocks at cars, did graffiti, drugs, sex, stealing and whatever the fuck we felt like. We made mix tapes to show our love. Style was important to us, whether it was Z Cavaricci's, LA Gear sneakers, Air Jordans, Bum Equipment, Chicago Bulls caps, overalls with one strap down, Harvard sweatshirts, Co-ed Naked T-Shirts, MC Hammer pants, layered socks, tight rolled jeans, flannel shirts, baby doll dresses, drug rugs, vintage t-shirts, army clothes, Doc Martins, Chuck Taylors, dyed hair, shaved heads, dreads, goatees, trenchcoats, dark rimmed glasses, mohawks, baggy jeans, etc etc etceterfuckin era.
We used to sit out on our porches or roofs or fire escapes and smoke cigarettes and weed and drink wine coolers and warm Budwiser from a can. We made fun of eachother, we beat eachother up, we had gangs and cliques and stereotypes and rape.
We broke into buildings and got high in boiler rooms. We played strip poker and told lies and played make believe and cried. We contacted spirits on Ouija Boards and babysat our neighbors. We cut ourselves with sharp objects and overreacted to everything. We disrespected our parents and loved them at the same time. We listened to rock and rap and shitty catchy pop songs that we dedicated to our girlfriends and boyfriends over the radio with code names.
We called party lines and had phone sex and pretended we were older than we were. We watched things on TV and movies that we didn't fully understand. We had our own slang. After saying something sarcastic, we would say "NOT!" really loud and laugh. We were born the same year as hip hop.
We knew about wars going on in other countries and knew we should care, but we didn't. We lied to our parents to keep from getting in trouble. We thought about suicide and knew kids who died from it as well as cancer, car accidents, motorcycle accidents, drowning and even murder. We saw our own families fight, divorce, go to jail, get addicted to drugs, die or suffer from mental illness. We kept going as if none of it were real.
There were gay kids, but in a school of 1000, it would be surprising to find even 1 who was "out" by choice. There were no gay straight alliances.
Being bad felt good, but there were good kids too. Kids who did what they were told, studied, did sports and activities and worked hard. And even they felt full of emptiness, pain, guilt and anger.
What i'm saying is that i was a kid once. I was a teenager. Now i'm 30 years old and realize that much of my experience as a kid has influenced who i am as an adult... but not necessarily how anyone ever expected. Things change from generation to generation, but nothing changes at the same time. Life is weird like that.