pue-blows

[bluepickle]

So we're getting my Jen Jenny all moved in to her new place down in Pueblo, CO. It is a nice place, really. Same cost as her old apartment downtown, but has a HUGE kitchen, two bedrooms... it is nice. Quiet neighborhood near a retirement complex and two elementary schools. So even though there is graffiti EVERYWHERE, it's crappy,

Comments

[phoenix_ri5ing]

I used to date a "gangster", she got tats and everything, then she "got out of the gang." Either a lie or they were just playing gangster... She's still got a nasty violent streak a mile long.

[bluepickle]

I get nervous because I don't know the group. I don't know how much is their front, I don't know how to read the individuals. I've never been even close to having a friend in a gang. It is wholly new territory for me

[phoenix_ri5ing]

When you think about it, a real gang is formed around an economic injustice. The poor are getting poorer and are living in squalid ghettos, while the wealthy are living it up in Beverly Hills. It is a reaction to an inequality that forms gangs, not a "need for protection" or any such bullshit. Unfortunately, they didn't get the memo that it was a better reaction to dye your hair orange and spike it into a 'hawk. :D

"I never ran from the Klu Klux Klan
and I shouldn't have to run from a black man "
- KRS One (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KRS_One)

[bluepickle]

Well yeah, that's kinda like the formation of Unions back in the day too. Maybe someone should write a manifesto for Gangs. Though... that would only postpone degeneration back to something abusive toward Other people. Kinda like Unions.

[jasmin_sane]

Gonna display my shocking cultural ignorance here and baffledly (if that's even a word) ask: is it really common in the States to say "good morning" to strangers in the streets? (We do the 'thanks' when people move out of our way [that is, *I* do, but shockingly few others, all bow to my superior politeness, etc] but otherwise we're really very anti-social round here and generally avoid talking to strangers if at all possible, unless we're drunk.)

Chin up, two years is gonna go real fast! Look, two years ago you were, uh... *checks your archives* ...having a garage sale and trying to make your own green hair dye for the Dark Knight premiere! Doesn't it seem like yesterday? Or last week, at least?
:D

[bluepickle]

Not really, but I tend to step out of the bounds of "expected" because people look at me harder than other people. If I'm "counter-culture" (or "weird/scary" as most hushed comments go) then people expect me to be sullen and angry and rude and hateful. So I say 'hi' first. It also was the way I got over being so damn shy. I pretend to be friendly and outgoing and chipper and people respond ...and then, if I'm the initiator, asking the questions, they get to talk about themselves! This makes people happy! So I get to be quiet and stuff but they leave thinking I'm a super awesome person!

It feels like two years ago, really. :/ heh

[chickiepickle]

i dunno ash - i do the same thing. i don't like social interaction either and starting the convo instead of awkward side glances does provide some form of control over the situation. however, we were raised to be polite and so i am not sure if it is a family thing or a USA thing. Meh. prolly a family thing. or a weird sister thing. whatever.

and yeah it does seem like 2 years ago when we went to that premier. seems longer actually. it's really only been 2 years?!?!

[gladrial]

My husband and I were driving through Atlanta just last week when he put a red bandanna around his shaved head because it was hot. (We were stuck in traffic and turned off the air conditioner so the car wouldn't overheat.) As soon as he did so, someone in the car behind us threw a blue bandanna around their rear view mirror in a clear sign of 'this is who I'm affiliated with and I don't like you'. (Gangs are a common problem in Atlanta.) "Take it off! Take it off!" I shouted, but he thought it was funny