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I've danced around the issue long enough. But a combination of returning to my writing (fiction and Non-fiction), and New York Politics in the news (with a slack in the Presidential primary), means this is a good time to tell everyone how I went from a FDR backer growing up in NYC to a W supporter (even) today.
***Before we begin, a dirty joke from my friend's family (who will be discussed here) up in NY: Why did Governor Spitzer go to prostitutes? Because Silda was a Spitzer.*****
I grew up in New York City during the 1970's. That meant drugs were available on most street corners; City services were failing and crime was rampant. When John Carpenter made Escape from New York and the X-Men entered the Days of Future Past, New York was falling apart. Visions of a NYC dystopia seemed not too far off.
My parents were young activists; Neither of my Grandparents weren't. Both Grandfathers were Union men. Before my Dad met my Mom, he spent a year at the Pentagon working for General Westmoreland. The next year, he went to Saigon and worked in communications. Then, he went back to Queens and worked for a Olivetti, a typewriter company.
When my Dad got back from Woodstock to see The Who, he met my Mom at the office on Park Avenue. After dating for two weeks and two days, they got married on Halloween. A week later, they protested in front of the Pentagon. A year later, I showed up (1970).
As they got older, my Mom remained active for a while. She volunteered for McGovern, and in 1976, she worked for Carter. My Dad drove a Checker cab and sold land in Pennsylvania for Oil and Gas leases during the Oil shock.
During the 80's, the family moved to Forest Hills. I met Jack Chartier's daughter (who told the joke above) in High School, and we became friends in 1985. It turned out Jack was running for the City Council Seat for Queens. He was forced out of the race due to Queens Machine Politics.
At 15, during Jack's campaign, I met former Tammany Hall people (They lived in Rego Park). During the next year, I learned a few things from those people:
A) How to re-weigh a Voting machine in the Counting Room;
B) How to Change the Count in the Counting Room;
C) Putting Partisans in crowds and Media to get your point heard;
D) There is no exact numbers after an Election.
I went to High School with Hevesi's kids as well. After a while, I drifted away from Politics (as I
usually do every few years), and got into music, writing, Comics and BBS'. I read Karl Marx and felt cool to be a Communist until I started my first job at Sizzler on Metropolitan Ave. and found a dishwasher lazier than I was who got paid more than I did. Marx lasted three months.
Then, I started College at Nassau Community College and....
[To Be Continued]
JSF, this is already sounding like Anakin's turn to the dark side! If your story has a massacre of sand people I don't know if we can still be friends.
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