What else would I be doing …if

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I was obsessed with something other than Punk rock. It would be very convenient if I could apply the same amount of devotion to going to shows and collecting records to something more lucrative, such as accounting or selling real estate. Instead I spend most of my energy on a lifestyle that drains my time and money at a sometimes alarming rate.

When I think about how much I have invested into going to punk shows it actually gets to be pretty pathetic. For example one winter in New England a group of friends and I planned a road trip to go see Bad Brains and Murphy's Law playing in Vermont. As if the six hour drive to the show wasn't going to be a big enough inconvenience we decided that we also should find a camping site and sleep in a tent after the show. It took about a month to organize the show/camping trip and we ended up taking two car loads of people. We got to the show three hours early and walked the streets of Burlington, freezing our asses off. Murphy's Law delivered as always, but of course Bad Brains were just sort of ridiculous at that point in their career. To make matters worse our car broke down and we were stuck in Vermont in the Winter with no idea what to do. We got some sub par assistance from a rookie cop who was obviously a little freaked out by us. Giving up on the idea of camping, we asked him where we could find a cheap hotel and after telling us that the cheapest hotel in the area was fairly sketchy, he reflected, "Well you guys are four big dudes. You could probably do whatever you want." While our friends in the other car headed back to Massachusetts I shared a bed with two other close mail friends. We taped a picture of a naked woman over the bed to protect our heterosexuality. By morning it had fallen down.

The following Winter my band got offered a show in Vermont and we reassembled most of the crew from the first Vermont trip and set out determined to have a successful camping trip after the show. Obviously we were completed out of our minds as anyone who has ever spent a night in Vermont in the Winter could tell you how cold it gets. That night twelve of us crammed into an eight person tent, but we were still cold and miserable. Our friend, Enrique, who grew up in Puerto Rico probably considered suicide. Nevertheless we toughed it out and made it through the night. I woke up in the morning and left the tent to take a pee and a hunter was waiting outside of the tent and pointed his gun at me. He then informed me that we were trespassing in a park since it wasn't camping season and gave me a long speech while I desperately held my pee in. All of this again was just so we could go to a show and be able to say that we camped in Vermont in the Winter.

Story after story, it all just becomes more evident that I chose the wrong obsession. If I had learned to focus in school or on advancing in some kind of well paying career instead of constantly thinking about what band I'm going to see play a twenty minute set I would be living quite a different lifestyle. If I spent money on stock investments rather than hunting down obscure records I might not have to live pay check to pay check, but in the end this is what I love and I don't think that's changing any time soon.

 

-Ditch-
Asst. Editor