Three Groups In The Great Freak Out- Mama’s Boys, Lebowski For All, and Makers

The Mama’s Boys are going down first, just as expected. In the last two days in my own world, people completely lost their shit in strange ways, some of them comical, some of the ominous. One of them is a TV world associate, ‘Dave’. Nice guy for a Republican, but Dave now believes we should attack China immediately, as in WW3, full on nukes galore, and bring them Big Money Jesus and corrective Republicanism. I nervously laughed when he said this and the screaming started. He wasn’t even drunk. Dave is in his late 50’s and you guessed it, he lived with his mom until she passed away last year. I burned this bridge when I suggested he remove his late mother’s dildo from his ass when he’s on the phone, that everyone can tell. Good manners are free. Temperance isn’t a balancing act. I can’t snap at Republican weirdos just because there’s a global pandemic, but I did. Absolutely ridiculous. Farther afield I see some other, larger signs of crazy. There’s a dude living inside one of the tattoo shops by my house, too poor to afford boards for the windows and no doubt holed up in there with a gun, two ancient bullets and some Dollar General sardines, crouched in the cold darkness going stone cold big crazy. That isn’t good, but that also has to be a mama’s boy. That’s a finger sniffing move. It should be noted here that the average tattoo guy or gal is at home drawing and watching TV or reading, shops boarded up, riding this out in relative style. Everything valuable has been taken home. The giant guy at the convenience store at the end of the street has his forearms wrapped in Saran wrap (???). And last but not least, the two waitresses living in the garage/studio behind the house across the street had another small party, the third one in three days, and I could hear them as they got louder (booze) and how terrified they are of getting sick. They can barely afford potatoes and a shared plastic bottle already. And yet they congregate, maybe six to twelve people, I think because it’s better than being alone. I hope they got laid. I hope the laughter helps them. There’s absolutely no way I’m going over there. I thought about that Republican guy this morning and I totally forgive myself. Even Jeff Lebowski would have shot him down.

Lebowski is mainstreaming, the wide center as We The People begin to stratify. I’m one. Nice house, couple bucks in the bank, though now that the economy is collapsing it may have been a mistake to put so much time into writing screenplays and the new novel (future money) instead of doing art (present money). My gal Sylvia is sweet, kind, and gentle, a perfect joy to be in quarantine with. She knits and she loves books and she’s the most consistently positive person I’ve ever known. We’re happy. She makes people happy, really goes out of her way to, so what can I say. But this isn’t the strata I’d like to be in. Raged out bottom feeder is the low end, living room Lebowski is the middle, but the top?

Makers of all kinds of things are seeing their stars rise. I’m just getting a grip on it. People are offering food. This is, I’m sad to say, a poor country in reality. The ‘Wealthiest Nation On Earth’ does not describe 65% of us, and very soon it will be more like 80%. That means we are actually ‘A Struggling Nation With Some Rich People Who Pay As Little As Possible’. I’ve already loaned out some money I know I’ll never see again, and I absolutely do not regret this in any way, I’m happy to do it, but this does not take me to the top. I’m still in the Lebowski zone. What do I have that I can offer my fellow citizens? What do I make, here at home, that can round out a pantry? I’m in luck! I can make rye bread AND a few months ago we made 20 jars of the spicy ginger fenugreek pickles. This, this I can do. I’m not rich. I’m comfortable, and I see many futures where that will change for the worse. But right now I’m good. Is this stupid? Not if other people start doing the same, and they are. A good sandwich has many ingredients. So does an omelette. So does a day. And you know what? If enough of us start doing this, these times will be just that much easier to bear. Hang in there, dear reader, and try to make it to the top if you can. Everything will be more appetizing if you do. Good luck.