saturday
really its just some one to smile at. instead of some picture of a face on a package or advertisement that i know im allowed to look at with out the fear of them looking back. sometimes its just good to know that your still human. not to act on impulses but to simply smile and be smiled at
its two croisants mostly..... then a 40oz of mickeys. people dont usually believe me when i tell them how well malt liquor compliments the flavors of your a-typical american breakfast. either way it is a lazy american delight. beacon, eggs, hash browns, and some salsa to scoop up with your beacon. instead of toast though i like to get croisants but not those cheap ass bags of a dozen or so that you get from the grocerie store. not at all. i like my croisants straight from the tit. i go to the donut shop where they make 'em fat and greasy. i need the bag to be transluscent when i get home. with a king cobra or a mickeys
i can hear the 40 rolling across the back seat when i turn off of john nobles onto rubidoux. i always slow down to take a look at that giant void. it looks so strange to me because i remember what the neighborhood used to look like when it was there. i can feel everybodys memories and lives. i hear every single conversation ever
and then theres that church
there are moments in history that we are suposed to remember fore ever. or "never forget" as it were. usually attrocity. somekind of vomitous incident that we force ourselves to look at and burn in our memories for the sake of it never happening again. the problem with this though is that those moments in history that we are never to forget are products of us chooseing to ignore the many other moments in our history that could have prevented the atrocitys in the first place had we paid attention to the lesson
and then there are those moments in history that we just wash over. moments that make us put all our efforts into makeing the rest of us forget the out come of our stupid decisions
in 1962 the city of palm springs rushed into "section 14" (the land between sunrise, indian, alejo, and ramon) and evicted every body in that area(mostly black folks) without notice. when i say evicted i mean they sacked those motherfuckers. they violently ran them off of their property and burned their houses down. the state of california recognized this later as a "city engineered holocaust" and then greatfully proceeded to rake in all the tax revenue that was produced by the hotels and retail fronts that were set up in its place
most folks in palm springs nowadays never knew of this incident to forget it
just as most folks in indio will eventually forget nobles ranch was ever there
the destruction of this neighborhood wasnt as blatant and viscious as what happened to "section 14" but it was motivated by the same greedy standard. the injury as it was inflicted was much more subtle yet the effects were much more damageing in that there is nothing there now. the filthy gabachos that had promised to develope the land once it was cleared of its residence backed out of the deal and the expansion of the indio mall never happened. all those houses were raised for nothing. the only people that are there now are a few homeless people who huddle in their pissed on blankets against the brick wall that surrounds the large vacant lot that used to be the neighborhood. their stank you can smell wafting over the wall into the back parking lot of that piece of shit mall
the really disturbing part about this is that its happening all over the country. private interests have been able to game municipalitys into useing eminent domain to sack peoples property in order to build their strip malls or hotells so they could collect the taxes that would be generated by these projects. yet the numbers and cost that were presented to get the project moveing were fantasys that were just meant to get the aproval in the first place. as the projects moved forward and the true costs of doing these things started to rear its ugly head, people got cold feet and backed out. displaceing intire communitys whos familys had been rooted in their homes for generations. and then there are no appolgys for this. everybody complicit in this shit just shrugs their shoulders and shuffles through the numbers over and over again while laying in bed trying to figure out some sequence they missed that could have made it work. never does it cross their mind that , "wow.....i realy am an evil cunt arent i?"
indio hasnt really done jack shit for this situation either. not only have they not come up with an alterative plan but theyve been silent about this incident altogether
wich i can understand
its kind of hard to talk with "golden voice promotions" cock down your throat
it turns out that raising the neighborhood wasnt needed after all. indio has hosted the "disposable income festival" for over a decade now and as the concert promoters sqeezed more and more money out of its patrons the city of indio obediently sat there waging its tail and drooling for the tax revenue that this show would bring in. and because of this grunion run the destruction of nobles ranch is just a simple after thought that is to be forgoten. "never to remember". as long as golden voice keeps payin who cares? rigfht? and if it is brought up its probably that other guys fault....... or something
but then theres that church
whether you have a god or you are an athiest, one thing you have to recognize as a constant in american comunitys since this countrys founding is its small modest churches and their roll as a gathering place for the community to develope its identity. not strictly in religious terms but in the sense that you may find yourself checking your mail at the same time as your neighbor one day and use every ounce of effort not to make eye contact. yet some how when you see them at church all of a sudden you are part of the same community. shakeing hands and discussing the needs of your less fortunate neighbors trying to figure out a way to help. even if its just a bunch of bullshit lipservice you pay before you go home and get lit up to watch the game, the church was still the place where the community gathered to touch base and display their civility towards one another
every saturday morning on my way back from the donut shop i drive by this curch and it is the sadest most surreal part of my week. some how that church was spared. the only building left standing on that vacant lot. the last representative of a ghost community. i find myself drawn into stareing and imagineing the houses that used to be there because i have never seen anything like this. all through out history there are examples of gods being taken away from their people. churches and holly sites destroyed by conquering armys who turn around and build their own temples and shrines on top of what was destroyed. but seeing that small church standing there alone
this is the first time i have ever seen a people taken away from their god
j
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