A Day In the Life of a Kind-Hearted Electrician and the Punk Scene Three Generations Later

I have to do any type of work, wherever it finds me. In this case, I helped out an electrician today. We worked in the basement of an old house in one of the older neighborhoods of Cincinnati. All of the homes are well kept in this area and this basement was clean compared to most. I still came away with scars, bruises and a black t-shirt that was once white. It is not easy work but it's not roofing either. The guy is one of the most kind-hearted gentleman that I've come across recently. You can tell a lot about someone by the way people respond to them. The world, to this guy, is his family. I, as usual, am a wall-flower and I nodded and grunted when spoken to. Thank God he was patient with me. I haven't done this kind of work in ten years. I have the soft, supple skin to prove it.

He has XM. I have Sirius. They don't have a punk/hardcore station on Sirius. They have a lot of hair-metal and hard-rock. Anyway, the electrician likes the punk station. I like punk and in my youth I think I identified with it more than, let's say The Grateful Dead. I was angry, and still am to some extent. At one time I loved the Dead Kennedys and spent money and time trying to find other bands like them. No luck. Nothing struck me with the same intensity and purpose. The lyrics: biting, cynical, funny, sarcastic. The band: fast with twinges of psychedelia and surf instros. Perfect. After 20 or so years and three generations later, I find it hard to believe that punk still has legs. It's not that good. It's become formulaic and dull. Everyone nowadays has an attitude. We saw a CBGBs poster at Target today. Harris Poll, 2003, estimates that fully 36% of those aged 25-29 have one or more tattoos. Who cares? Right? I shouldn't, but it's one of my quirks, pop music and music trends. I used to follow most of it, but now it's just too much. Everyone and their sister is in a band. Maybe there are statistics about how many Americans own record labels? I wonder if The Sex Pistols will be remembered in 200 years? I can understand why Mozart is.