77 Get me to my room part 1

So it was out of Shattuck Arms after a week. We each took our bags and headed out for the day. Did some exploring on Telegraph Ave. I noticed that there were folks with little coin tins panhandling for the Berkeley Free Clinic. They wore licenses around their necks, so I got into a conversation with a fellow asking him about it. He said "Yeah. Go in there. They'll set you up. You get 10% of the money you collect." Alright.

Asked a couple of people directions to the youth hostel. Heard they didn't open till 5 or so everyday. When it was closer to time we started walking. Other travelers were headed in that direction and we all kind of made it over there in a big group. I'm not even sure if it was still Berkeley. It was quite a ways and sort of industrial looking.

I've got to try to describe what we were all looking like. There were no stylish counter culture people moving around and hitchhiking. We all had minimal possessions except for the chicken lady. I'll talk about her later. Guys hair was pretty long in 1972, same for the girls. Our bodies were all in a natural state. I never really ran into many people that were smelling super bad, except for the chicken lady and her man. My hair was probably combed more than anyone's. I sure as hell didn't want all the knots I had from riding in that sports car, ever again. We found ways to express our personality through dress though. I didn't have a lot, but I wore a beaded choker and my scarves. If you found an old piece of clothing that was different, it was treasured.

We got there early. A line formed in the dirt out front. Found out that the girls had a room and the guys had another. The guys room was pretty big. Just more guys on the road. We were so early we had the option to be in the "Couples Room." Sure! We gave them our names and that's all there was to it.

Smaller than this.

So we stood outside the door to the couple's room. There was another guy and girl out there. "What are we waiting for?" "Oh. There's another couple in there already." Huh? Why do we have to wait? They just kind of looked at me. I'm thinking that maybe everyone in California isn't as fun as I thought. They answered "Uhh. Each couple gets half an hour alone. Then we can all use the room." You got to remember that certain boundaries were still being broken in 1972. I know that people are letting it all hang out on social media now, but many young people during that time were raised in prudish homes. That was hard to shed for some and it was a slower approach. It was show up the way you want. There was the mundane and there was the sensational.

I spoke about a couple of my friends in New York before. "S" did the whole heroin fueled orgy bit in the city with her older boyfriend. She'd describe it to me and it sounded like she was doing it just to do it. She really didn't like finding all kind of body parts all over herself when she woke up. Dirty parts of the city, too. She wanted to stop but I think she was motivated by her aversion to her parents and the Catholic Church. I was witness a few times to her walking into her house. I'd be smiling and her mom would ask her where the hell she was all that time. "Go fuck yourself." The finger and "go fuck yourself" every time to her mom. Her mom would be in curlers and a housedress. Her mom loved me because I didn't say "go fuck yourself." Mom was in curlers, so "S" ironed her hair.

"I" was doing the same thing but stuck with drugs you could smoke or swallow. She kind of hung with more musical people and she was nicer to her mother. Her sister covered for her and she did the same for her sister. The dads really didn't get too involved with what the daughters were doing. 

I was the more flowery of the three. Out of my mind with escapades but I wanted to escape the dirt that was New York. They were getting in deeper and I wanted out. When I got to California I thought "Ok. We'll all just kiss the trees and love one another!'

We had our half an hour. Whatever. Eventually the door was opened to all three couples. Ok. Rules. Not my forté. It was a room with three mattresses thrown on the floor. Cool. I don't need anything. The other two couples in there were pretty boring. LBJ and I wandered around. They always had free apples. Some gal was crying in the girls "dorm" and lots of really tired young ladies were yelling at her to shut up. I was starting to notice that not everyone was a kind soul. I tried to see if there was anything I could help with, but she didn't want it. I think she was with the mean chicks. Maybe they were Manson girl-like. Well, back to the "couples room."

We all just slept. It was morning and you could hear some loud dudes going around telling everyone "Time to get up!" There were a few guys that looked to be freaks themselves, probably in their 30's, running the show. Like I said earlier I think they were funded by do-gooders that lived in the expensive parts of Berkeley. The bathrooms were packed, but there was coffee and donuts. We'd be back that night. Ha ha. Ha ha. Very funny. That's a story. One of the highlights.

But anyway we headed on out of there walking back to Berkeley. I was going to check out the free clinic gig. We walked with the chicken lady and her man. She definitely stood out. These were the first people I ever met from Texas. Accents ruled then. If they based a couple of characters in a movie on these two you'd say "ridiculous." But the most amazing examples exist out there. Unafraid to be themselves. Man. I just wanted to know more. They lived on a farm and raised chickens. But the weird thing is she looked just like a chicken. Her hair was super short and she had a bony face. Her nose was bumped out and looked like a chicken beak. She walked real funny too. Kind of jerky. Speed up. Slow down. Gotta say I kept my distance cause they sure did have a peculiar aroma. An unusual amount of baggage they carried too. "Wow! You were living on a farm, that's beautiful! Why did you give it up?" They plain out said running from the law. Something with a car and assault. I don't remember. "Alright. See you later!" And we did. More than a few times.