An older lady enter an icecream parlor. Her grey long skirt suit is pressed prim and proper. She goes to a table at this icecream parlor, "Taste It Like It Is." A brown attendant comes to her. With his cap on, it is hard to tell if his hair is straight or frizzy. She's a little frazzled; those people don't make part of her world.
"Do you speak English, young man?"
"Yes, I do, I am from Chicago, actually." Anyone can tell he's used to people like the older lady.
"Well, this is what I want. I want a sundae with oats on top, then bran, then a banana, sliced. Under all this you can conceal some icecream, vanilla, please, and chocolate syrup, can you not?" The lady nearly whispers.
"Yes, ma'am."
And that is our posture. We pretend we are sacrificing, we are dieting, we are making efforts to swallow bitter pills. We emasculate/castrate our libido, get happy with violence, in our arts, in our entertainment. Or we are happy with money. Or we pretend we believe all that stuff pushed down our throats at temples and churches and then we push down our throats all possible food till we nap and wake up for more of the cycle of the fake healthy sundae.
Five years ago two girls died at a party in Westwood. I read the whole thing all over again. One was killed, the other overdosed on antidepressants, apparently. At a moment at the party where all this happened, the girls were egged on to keep on fighting.
Would the presence of parents have changed all this?
This is America.
Then four years ago two boys were killed in gang-affiliated shootings, it seems.
Then last year honors student Eddy López was murdered. A mistake.
Tom Hayden has marched.
The kids marched for Eddy López.
When SAMOHI was smeared with grafitti against African-descent kids, there was a huge protest. Eileen Strauss was fired and Hugo Pedrozo was hired, sorry I forgot to mention both are Drs.
Pedrozo's beginning was not auspicious. The guy promises to conduct an investigation on a hazing story, lets two weeks go by, says he won't do anything about it and does the minimum. The kids, as usual, don't know why anything happened. Who were the adults in the cars? They were busy savoring the vanilla icecream with chocolate syrup.
Don't you see? We are as hypocritical as Nathaniel Hawthorne's ancestors. To this day I may be thankful they taught the males how to read, and they had grueling work ethics. Alas! How arrogant, how smug, how fond of violence they were...
Damned is the human race.

Download violentfemmes.m3u
Violent Femmes download from official site. Violent Femmes play in San Francisco at the Filmore on December 28.