HippiesUpdated May 13 by Rick
Hippies
You know, there's a lot of hippies out there still. I find that kinda strange. You'd think they would've figured out that the time have changed sometime around nine years before I was born. Oh yeah, sure, the Grateful Dead kept touring like another 17 years, but really, the whole hippie thing was just over. People "grew up" and traded their ideals for money; it's the American Way!
The strangest thing is seeing these hippies. It's like dinosaurs are roaming the earth. For a long time, I wondered where these people all lived (since any decent homeless shelter would kick them out if they didn't bathe). It wasn't so bad in California; most of the hippies were in Berkley therefore not really in Cali (I don't consider anywhere north of Magic Mountain or South of Orange County San Diego has been annexed by by Mexico California). When I moved to Tucson, though, things changed.
Tucson considers itself some sort of art community. Therefore, it is infested with hippies. Still, it took me a while to find out where they lived (other than on the streets). Well, one night, while accidentally going to a rave I saw their natural habitat. There was about a square mile of Ancient VW Bugs lined up together in some sort of convoy out in the desert. Even in the dark December night, it was pretty obvious that these vehicles had not moved in the last 50 years. I wanted to stop and look, but others were intent on making it to the crack-smoking party in a timely fashion.
The irony of finally finding the hippie hideout on the way to a rave is not lost on me. It's true: ravers our the next generation of hippies. They can make a COOL 90S ACRONYM all they want, but I'm not fooled: PLUR is just another twist on the whole free-love-flower-power deal.
I wonder where our ravers will be in thirty years? Will they be camped in some sort of Honda convoy around the outskirts of Tucson? What will they do if they happen across some of their predecessors? Sure, they'll be nearly 90-but what if a hippie procreates with a Raver? Dear god. The world is in trouble, people!
And I love it.