A Sublme Ruination

One of the reasons that I wanted to leave a trail of my earlier years, from being an undersized Catholic runt scrambling to survive at the mouth of the Fraser River, to working in a morgue, then a toilet factory, then back to the docks, was because we had the option then. When I longshored, it was $5.83/hour, a lot of dough in 1973, even though cousin Tom had nailed a job on the green chain at over 8 bucks/hour. The point being, you could toe the line, or you could tune in, turn on and drop out. And that's why I decided to look into things from the bottom up.

Today, you get a lot of talk about millenials and snowflakes etc, but these kids don't have it easy. The adventures on offer are virtual. It's supposedly a borderless world, but from what I see, people have never felt so fenced in. But, it's still possible to do whatever you like. Freedom is there for the taking.

To be sure, I voluntarily crucified myself, but I never regretted it. Every last one of the characters I met got the better of me. But, when I went to China, I knew I was doomed before I even stepped out onto Kai-tek airport in 89. But that's just it. If you want to see life, you have to be ready to start at the bottom.


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