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Be what you want.

Hey Mike, So, after listening to a bunch of (ok, a few) old songs (Asexuals, Sham 69, DOA, Angelic Upstarts, Special AKA, 7Seconds) I leashed up the dog and headed out to check on the kids in the CHAZ. Not gonna lie: it did my heart good to see what amounted to the seeds of a squat (they don't have an actual building to occupy - they are asking for the city to hand over the East Precinct, and I'm honestly not sure how that will go) all over 11th & Pine. And it was pretty damn cool. Sloppy, but cool. Easily 50 tents parked in the park, loads of tents with free supplies, medical help, saintary supplies (tp and paper towel, for free! people had been lining up for hours just weeks ago to pay jacked up prices for that stuff!). I roamed around, taking in the graffiti, the art (the BLM painted down Pine street, honestly, it was really great) I talked briefly to a girl setting up a free book exchange/library, I went up to the precinct and listened to people talking aobut plans, a woman who asked about KC and I chatted briefly and I mentioned wondering if the people involved in this movement knew about squats & that movement, but she was clearly not in on it, Walked to another barricade and found a white guy about our age with an definitely arty vibe, and asked him if he knew if any of this was motivated or fashioned on euro models, and had any of them ever been there? Lo and behold a black woman ambled up and she was one of the organizers and yep, they were familiar (don't know if they'd been there, but still) and we had a spirited discussion about how things could move forward. And we were treated to an older white guy (and his equally older woman passenger) drive up to the barricade (not sure how they got in to go along the spot, since it seemed closed to traffic to me) but he started rampaging about how was he supposed to drive through this? We all chuckled and said "you're not" but offerred that the barricades were movable, so he could just move them if it was really that important. Hilarious to watch the entitled wealthy man LOSE his shit over not being able to drive down 12th ave. As if that doesn't happen with city permits several times a year. I mentioned as a pedestrian, I had no sympathy for self-important car drivers. There are tons of streets available with just a one block detour, but no, this guys had to be a dick. But, as always, it provided a bonding moment for us. It started raining more heavily, so we seperated, but it was cool. I'm envious of the kids, but also not sure they have enough focus to make this stick. But, if it gives them practice for next time? Cool.

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