I remember when...

Sometimes life is so strange. I remember when –

… I was a teenager…and I stood across the street from City Hall, with my gaggle of longhaired, barefooted friends…and yelled insults at police officers. Now I work at City Hall…and smile as I spew forth casual pleasantries to police officers in the break room.

…I grew up in a house where at least one utility was usually off…or in danger of being shut off…and mom parked the family car on the lid of the water meter…so that the city couldn’t turn it off. Now…I call people to tell them that if they don’t pay their water bill by a certain time…on a certain day…we will shut it off…and I wonder…if they have thought about parking their car on the meter lid.

…I viewed anyone with a title…as an extension of ‘the establishment’…and I treated them with contempt. Now…I sit in Council meetings…taking the minutes…trying not to roll my eyes in disgust at those who seem to have no respect for the office of Mayor.

Sometimes I wonder…if I have moved forward or backward. There was a certain satisfaction…in being a rebel. Have I now become…what I disdained…? Or have I simply slipped…an inch at a time…into the bottomless chasm...of society’s groove…unable now to hoist my lost individuality back up the slippery walls of that dark place of 'cookie cutter' beings.

Be Well!