Running errands this afternoon on Halloween, I walked past Dave's Army-Navy Surplus store on 8th St. all bedecked as usual with American flags and other U.S.A. patriotic bunting. It was about 2 p.m. and it was crowded with customers, customers actually standing around waiting to get in. Trust me folks, it is never like this otherwise, particularly not at 2 pm on weekday.
The customers were all young white males in suits frantically buying up military uniforms and fake arms for the expression tonight of their fantasy selves. Of course, these uniforms were all of the "Special Forces" sort, not yanno, privates in the Army or anything so, well, mundane. Surely these clowns are all extra sooperdooper snipers and assassins. They're all probably pretending to be Matt Damon pretending he is Jason Bourne ....Scary.
If they are so enamored of the soldier's life why the frack are they being all pudgy and out of shape, wearing expensive suits and coats, all excited about playing soldiers? Really. They are too old for this. Blech.
I used to like Halloween a lot. But as the annual Village Halloween Parade began attracting 4 million viewers, and that the parade gathers on my street and jumps off from here, not so much. We get either locked in or locked out. We can't eat out or buy beer, and the level of people peeing in our doorway is way too high. So maybe we need to make allowances for the foxie feeling cranky today. Besides, Vaquero is very sick, and he is cranky too.
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I had occasion to go to a gun range a few years ago. Since I didn't want to break my personal record of having gone every single day of my life without firing a gun, I took the time to check out the patrons. There was one couple -- he was showin' the little lady how to fire a pistol -- and a gaggle of overweight young guys with crewcuts. In other words, a bunch of guys who couldn't get a date and came to the gun range instead. I was struck by the latent or not so latent self-loathing these guys must feel -- not to mention the misogyny -- spending their evening showing off their prowess with guns to other guys.
Yeah.
They call it the feminization of our culture that far too many males have no scope for demonstrating active masculinity.
Since, as per usual, the power and benefit of whatever culture is going is in the hands of men, and for men, it's hard for me to buy that argument.
What I do know is that we have little in this nation these days of what I'd call authentic culture, and most of that comes out of the African American and immigrant communities. It's all pretty toxic, which is why I want Change so much.
I'm so a-weary of toxicity.
Love, C.
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