WHAT IF WE DIDN'T COMPLY

“Drink heavily with locals whenever possible.”—Anthony Bourdain

When the lockdowns happened, I was driving around Seattle in an empty bus. Occasionally the homeless would get on. What was shocking to me was that transit didn’t go into an emergency order. It’s called something else but I forget what they call it because in my 23 year career Governor Inslee only ordered it one time and that was for snow.

In an emergency transit order the routes are reduced to only routes traveling past a hospital, pharmacies, and grocery stores. Around 90% of service gets cut. Drivers are required to still show up for work and you sit at the base through your shift just in case the Governor removes the order. If this were a real pandemic with a deadly spreading virus wouldn’t you place transit in the emergency order or cancel it all together? The sheeple didn’t question it, but a few of us drivers did. Bullshit meter was pegged. BULLSHIT!!!!BULLSHIT!!!!BULLSHIT!!!!

As I drove through downtown Seattle, I wondered about the rebel rocker street musicians. The anti-government Eddie Vedder type, Neil Young type. Now the Roger Waters type. Where is Rage Against The Fucking Machine? Nobody came out to play. We needed music on the fucking street. Desperately. Would you get arrested for standing on a corner playing a guitar? I don’t know because I never saw anyone try it, but If yes return next week with a harmonica.

If no then fucking play. Play every day. Move around too. I thought that if you won’t get arrested then add to it. Add another guitarist starving to play in front of people. See how that goes for a day or two then add the harmonica player. Return the next day with a drummer and a violinist. And keep on Covid 19 rocking it for the enslaved. I wished I could play an instrument, any instrument. I’d be out there corner to corner playing. I thought about going out anyway. I know a few chords on a guitar. Would anyone even notice that I don’t know how to play? Doubt it. I regret.

The video below brought back those memories I had driving the 550 route inbound down 4^th ave and outbound down 2^nd ave. During the entire lunacy lockdown, face masks, social distancing phase I never saw a single street musician anywhere in Seattle. My daily thought, WHERE ARE YOU FUCKERS? THIS IS THE HOMETOWN OF JIMI HENDRIX.

The story to the video below is the mall area was dealing with a lot of crime and it was believed that the street musicians were attracting the thugs. When the man in the tuxedo started setting up he was asked to leave by the locals. They informed him why. He told them he wouldn’t play at all unless someone came forward and paid him, only then would he start to play.  I wonder if this man went out and played during the CV19 insane lockdowns. Imagine if humans wouldn’t have complied but went out on the streets and held a concert every day. Where would we be today?