People Watching Part 12 - How Do You Do?
Been thinking about all the deals I blew over the years. These weren’t regretful thoughts, just a
wistful reminiscing of what might have been if I’d rolled the dice differently.
Back in the day, the government had almost complete press
control – not just the media but novels, children’s books, the lot. But there were a few Citizens of Boomtown writing
our own stuff. Mainly we were just
writing for fun – for something to do in the long evenings - but there was always
an underlying angle which meant each of us was facing up to the government in
our own small way. Initially, things
took a bit of a sinister turn - we’d get followed on the subway by men in grey
overcoats and gas masks but these lads turned out to be nothing but low-grade
government lackies who couldn’t find their arse in the bath. With this realisation, we started having fun
at their expense and as the anti-government stunts got more brazen, we
developed a sort of Robin Hood status among our fellow citizens.
As our readership grew, our low-rent fanzines and novellas
began to enjoy a bit of a cult status and with that status came the prospect of
fame. Some of the ‘brotherhood’ started
to get invitations to what were seen as the highlights of Boomtown’s social
calendar…..evening receptions in some fat fuck’s mansion where all the
z-listers hung out. These ‘parties’ were
crap. An endless round of being
introduced to faceless people – shaking a thousand sweaty palms with blokes
that no matter how hard you tried, would never look you in the eye. Nights like these were just wall to wall
chinless wonders trying to sell you their master plans – all the things you
should and shouldn’t do if you wanted to be like them…as if!!
Maybe it was because I didn’t want to play their game that I
never actually got my breakthrough. I
often dreamt of being at one of these soirees and getting dragged into a side
room. There on a big oak desk was a
contract – “take this pen and put your name right there, this ensures that we
take care of you.” I usually woke in a
cold sweat before the rest of that story could play out.
No, for me the best nights involved piling into the Neon
Heart on a Saturday night and getting rat-faced to some of Boomtowns’ best
bands. Good music and good company is
all that matters, it really matters…….and sadly, those things are in short
supply right now.