"Park this van where ever it is that you walk to or ride your bike to. We don't want it here anymore. it's a eye sore."
Pretty generic. In Venice, at least the hateful homeowners pretended to have a "Riviera Street Coalition" to defend their territory against the invasion of bands of Gypsies. I really thought I left the snobs behind in NH.
The conclusion is that if you want to rebel against society then don't do it publicly. That sounds like defeat because it is defeat. I am defeated. Costco wins. Walmart (chinamart) wins. Easy Rider is a movie that dramatizes this debate of individual freedom and conformity. You couldn't rebel against 1967 America and you can't rebel against 2012 America. It's really a philosophical argument because only when I was a young non conformist did I maintain delusions of making a difference with philosophical integrity. Those days are gone. Was it an egotistical effort to make myself feel more important or is it really the key to substantial change? I'm not sure. I think it's both. Because substantial change will not be inspired by a single person's actions but that's the excuse people use for not recycling plastic bottles. No one else recycles so it doesn't matter. I go to the dumpster and it's filled with recyclables and the recycle dumpster is like 50 yards away. So does it really matter if I recycle a single milk jug when there are 25 milk jugs thrown in the dumpster? Who cares if there are 26?
I'm getting off track. It doesn't matter that I'm parked legally outside the house I'm painting and sleeping in. The van is obviously a home on wheels and even though this is the Midwest, lots of people are trying to sell their homes and the van is an eye sore so they are naturally trying to get their neighborhood back to the place where home invaders and drug dealers are comfortable. They don't want people living in vans and they don't even want vans that look like people live in them. Do I blame them? Partly, but I really blame myself for trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. This is the royal seat of Walmart and Lee's Fried Chicken. These are considered good things here despite the health and economic problems they cause. The residents here are conformists in a conformist nation and the van is non conformist. So I lose and that must give some people some joy that their team is big enough to bully the gypsy around. Yep, hang another flag on your door! You win. It confirms my feeling that the parents of this area do not really want me teaching music to their kids. And I don't blame them. My approach will not help them conform to the traditional values of Burger King and Costco...and that would be a handicap in a place where Burger King is accepted. I'm tempted to say the experiment failed but that's not true. The experiment showed me exactly who my allies are and how my enemies hide behind anonymous comments and hate mail taped to my window. I'll tell you my allies are few and far between but mostly people just didn't want to get involved and that says a lot about the character of Americans.
The lesson is that if you can't conform to the culture then do not try to change it. Definitely cut all ties to it and find somewhere you can belong. Everyone will be happier.
