So It Goes 2001

I had a Mohawk when I dressed myself in a jean jacket with the sleeves cut off and my back read, “Stop: do not call 911, the man is out to get you.” My step brother did not know his father but we knew each other and he was the bass player in our punk rock band. He had a piece of cloth hanging from his ass that read, “Fuck racist cops!” We were walking back home to our suburban existence when we spotted a couple of cop cars parked in front of a gas station. We decided to enter and not buy anything. The cops looked like movie characters and noticed our strange wardrobe. As we left the double doors they followed and yelled to us. We acted surprised as we turned around and the policemen approached us. One had a mustache circa 1992 in the year 2001 and he said, “Fuck cops what’s that supposed to mean?” My step brother retorted that his message read, “Fuck racist cops,” and the officer repeated himself, “So fuck cops huh?”
This is funny to me now, considering my military background and work for, “The Man,” but I still relish my teenage rebellion. I think I wanted to be a well-rounded man and I must have made a deal with myself to explore all perspectives. The cop with the mustache told me to turn around so I did. He read my message out-loud and told me, “So when the brothers are kicking your ass around the corner you won’t want anyone to call us, right?” I replied, “The brothers sir? You mean black people?” They stumbled on their words and let us on our way. There was a general racism that was accepted in different realms during the days following September 11, 2001. I’m not sure why, I just remember that’s how it was. I remember a country that progressively lost its mind so I manned up and bared the burden. In the end it is people like me that will be blamed for it, but a wiser man than me once wrote, “So it goes.”